nioersitt)  of 
4  A  (California 


Ifilaus   Sorccfeels  IfTutto 


IRegro  in  Hmenca 

Bn& 

Hfceal  Hmertcan  IRepublic 


BY 

T.  J.  MORGAN,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

AUTHOR  OF 

'Studies  in  Tedagogy"  "  Tatriotic  Citizenship"  etc. 


PHILADELPHIA 

AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY 
1420  Chestnut  Street 


SPRECKELS 


Copyright  1898  by  the 
AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY 


jfrom  tbc  Society's  own  press 


DefcicateD 

TO  THE  OFFICERS  AND  SOLDIERS  WHOM  I  HAD 
THE  HONOR  TO  COMMAND  DURING  THE  WAR  FOR 
THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  HUMAN  LIBERTY,  THE  PER 
PETUATION  OF  FREE  INSTITUTIONS,  AND  THE 
PRESERVATION  OF  THE  REPUBLIC— "A  GOVERN 
MENT  OF  THE  PEOPLE,  BY  THE  PEOPLE,  AND  FOR 
THE  PEOPLE" 


i 00504 


PREFATORY   NOTE 


MY  grandfather  was  a  slaveholder.  My 
father  was  an  Abolitionist.  While  a  student 
in  college  I  learned  to  believe  in  the  doctrine 
of  the  brotherhood  of  man  and  to  hate  slavery. 
During  the  war  I  organized  four  regiments  of 
Negro  soldiers ;  was  colonel  of  the  Fourteenth 
U.  S.  Colored  Infantry  ;  organized  and  com 
manded  the  First  Colored  Brigade  of  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland,  and  participated  in  numer 
ous  engagements  with  both  white  and  black 
soldiers.  Since  the  war  I  have  had  an  abid 
ing  and  growing  interest  in  the  progress  of 
the  Negroes.  For  more  than  five  years,  as 
the  executive  officer  of  the  American  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society,  under  whose  auspices 
an  extensive  educational  and  missionary  work 
has  been  carried  on  for  the  Negroes,  I  have 
had  occasion  to  study  their  conditions  criti 
cally,  to  make  frequent  public  addresses,  and 
to  write  numerous  essays.  Some  of  these  are 


Prefatory  Note 

now  printed  together  with  the  hope  that  they 
may  be  serviceable  as  well  as  interesting. 
Written  at  different  times,  for  specific  pur 
poses,  with  no  intention  of  making  a  book,  the 
essays  contain  a  little  repetition  and  lack  of 
unity,  defects  which  I  hope  the  reader  will 
kindly  pardon.  I  could  not  remedy  them 
without  marring  the  individuality  of  the  papers. 
The  essay  on  ' '  The  Ideal  Republic ' '  is  added 
because  it  sets  forth  the  essential  principles 
underlying  the  relation  of  eight  million  Ne 
groes  to  their  fellow-citizens  of  the  republic. 
The  final  solution  of  this  great  question  holds 
in  it  very  much  for  weal  or  woe  not  only  for 
the  Negroes  and  their  descendants,  but  also 
for  all  that  mighty  host  who  are  to  constitute 
the  Twentieth  Century  Republic. 

T.  J.  M. 

NEW  YORK,  November,  1898. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.  SLAVERY  AND  FREEDOM 9 

II.  NEGROES  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 52 

III.  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES 75 

IV.  THE     HIGHER     EDUCATION    OF    NEGRO 

WOMEN      " 96 

V.  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  AMONG  THE  NEGROES  .    .  115 

VI.  NEGROPHOBIA    .   .    .    .^ I23 

VII.  THE  NEGROES  UNDER  FREEDOM 143 

VIII.  THE  IDEAL  AMERICAN  REPUBLIC    .    .   .   .  160 


THE  NEGRO  IN  AMERICA 


SLAVERY   AND    FREEDOM 

THE  population  of  the  United  States  now 
comprises  probably  seventy  millions  of  people, 
and  among  these  are  representatives  of  all  the 
great  races  of  the  earth.  About  four  hundred 
years  ago,  when  adventurers  from  Europe  came 
to  explore  North  America  they  found  living 
here  a  body  of  copper-colored  people  whom 
they  called  Indians.  Where  these  people 
came  from,  how  they  got  here,  why  they  came, 
or  how  many  there  were  of  them,  nobody 
knows.  In  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century  colonists  arriving  from  Europe  began 
to  form  settlements  along  the  Atlantic  coast, 
and  European  immigrants  have  continued  to 
come  until  the  number  has  reached  the  enor 
mous  proportion  of  about  twenty  millions. 
Almost  all  of  these  people  came  of  their  own 
free  will,  to  establish  for  themselves  homes  in 
9 


The  Negro  in  America 

a  new  country,  where  the  conditions  would  be 
more  favorable  for  their  prosperity  and  happi 
ness  than  in  the  lands  from  which  they  came. 
They  and  their  descendants  constitute  by  far 
the  largest  part  of  our  population,  and  they 
have  been  the  chief  factors  in  the  development 
of  our  civilization. 

The  Africans  brought  to  this  country  were 

not  immigrants,  coming  of  their  own  free  will 

to  seek  their  fortunes  in  a 

The  "Mayflower"  country;    they    were 

and  .     ,    .    \f. 

the  Slave  Ship  caPtlves'  seized  m  Afnca> 
carried  away  from  their  na 
tive  land,  their  homes,  their  friends,  and 
brought  to  this  country  in  the  holds  of  sailing 
vessels  where  they  suffered  many  hardships, 
and  were  sold  into  slavery.  The  first  slave- 
ship  landed  at  Jamestown,  Va. ,  1619,  with 
its  helpless  cargo,  and  thus  introduced  on 
American  soil  an  institution  which  was  des 
tined  to  play  a  very  significant  part  in  the  fu 
ture  history  of  the  American  people.  The 
"Mayflower,"  which  landed  at  Plymouth, 
Mass.,  in  1620,  brought  a  company  of  intelli 
gent  Christian  white  people,  who  laid  the 
foundations  of  a  new  civilization  characterized 
by  freedom  :  out  of  the  Plymouth  Colony  have 
10 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

come  free  schools,  free  Bibles,  free  ballots. 
America  is  pre-eminently  the  land  of  equality. 
Every  citizen  of  the  republic  has  the  right  to 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  and 
rightfully  claims  the  equal  protection  of  the 
laws  under  which  he  lives.  The  slave-ship 
brought  slaves,  those  who  could  claim  no  rights 
whatever,  but  were  to  receive  in  silence  and 
submission  whatever  treatment  was  accorded 
to  them  by  their  masters.  In  a  new  country 
such  as  this  then  was,  there  was  great  need  of 
labor ;  and  the  slave  trade  was  very  profitable, 
because  there  was  great  demand  for  the  work 
of  the  poor  creatures  who  were  brought  from 
Africa  to  America. 

At  first  the  Africans  were  sold  to  any  who 
would  buy  them  in  any  of  the  Colonies  ;  slav 
ery  existed  in  the  Northern  portions  of  the 
country  as  well  as  in  the  Southern.  In  the 
course  of  time,  however,  slavery  came  to  be 
confined  entirely  to  the  Southern  States.  The 
Northern  communities  abandoned  it  partly  be 
cause  it  was  less  profitable  in  the  North  and 
partly  because  of  the  growth  of  a  strong  pub 
lic  sentiment  against  it. 

Slaves  were  used  for  the  performance  of  all 
kinds  of  service  :  the  women  as  cooks,  cham- 
ii 


The  Negro  in  America 

bermaids,  laundresses,  sewing  girls,  nurses ;  the 
men  as  coachmen,  gardeners,  field  hands.  A 
very  large  part  of  the  hardest  work  in  the  South 
was  done  by  the  slaves,  and  those  who  could 
afford  to  do  so  usually  preferred  to  own  their 
servants  rather  than  to  hire  them,  as  was  gen 
erally  done  at  the  North,  and  is  now  done 
everywhere  in  the  country.  Many  slavehold 
ers  were  kind-hearted,  noble,  worthy  people, 
who  either  did  not  see  anything  wrong  in  slav 
ery,  or  who,  because  they  had  inherited  their 
slaves,  or  for  other  reasons  which  seemed  to 
them  sufficient,  could  not  very  well  divest 
themselves  of  slave  property. 

In  very  many  instances  the  slaves  were 
kindly  treated,  being  fairly  well  clothed  and 
fed,  and  properly  cared  for  when  sick  ;  in  other 
cases  they  were  treated  very  harshly  and  even 
cruelly.  They  were  not  taught  to  read  or 
write  ;  they  did  not  own  property  ;  everything 
they  had  belonged  to  their  masters ;  they 
were  not  allowed  to  have  their  own  homes, 
but  must  live  wherever  required  to  by  their 
masters  ;  sometimes  a  husband  lived  on  one 
plantation  and  his  wife  on  another,  while  the 
children,  perhaps,  were  sold  and  carried  away 
into  distant  States.  Slavery  left  no  place  for 

12 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

the  recognition  of  manhood  and  womanhood  ; 
it  made  no  provision  for  the  cultivation  of  self- 
respect,  industry,  thrift,  intelligence,  enter 
prise,  independence;  it  crushed  out  in  the  slave 
most  of  the  nobler  sentiments  of  the  human 
heart.  Slavery  was  a  monster,  and  the  mother 
of  vices.  It  developed  in  the  men  sloth,  im 
providence,  servility ;  in  the  women,  fawning 
and  impurity.  In  the  masters  it  developed 
arrogance,  pride,  and  cruelty.  As  a  system, 
it  stands  condemned  at  the  bar  of  the  world's 
best  public  opinion  as  utterly  irreconcilable 
with  correct  principles  of  political  economy, 
morality,  or  religion. 

The    Africans    who  were    brought    to   this 
country   as    slaves    were    black,    full-blooded 

Negroes :    were    ignorant, 

'  ,      A  Blessing  Deeply 

superstitious,  and  very  de-  Disguised 

grade  d — Africa,  whence 
they  came,  being  mostly  a  land  of  barbarism. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  true  that  slavery, 
notwithstanding  its  evils,  was  in  large  degree 
overruled  to  their  good.  They  learned  to 
speak  the  English  language.  They  learned 
that  great  and  blessed  lesson  how  to  work. 
They  became  acquainted  with  the  white  man's 
ways,  acquired  a  taste  for  freedom  and  real 
13 


The  Negro  in  America 

prosperity,  and  an  intense  desire  for  learning. 
When  the  Civil  War  began,  in  1861,  there 
were  about  four  million  slaves,  but  of  these 
only  a  very  small  number  were  originally  Afri 
cans  (the  slave  trade  having  been  stopped), 
and  among  them  were  a  large  number  of  mu- 
lattoes,  or  mixed  bloods,  some  of  whom  were 
almost  entirely  white.  These  four  million 
slaves,  multitudes  of  whom  through  the  preach 
ing  of  the  gospel  and  religious  instruction  had 
become  Christians,  were  far  removed  in  most 
respects  from  the  degraded  condition  of  the 
first  shiploads  of  captives  that  were  brought 
from  Africa. 

From  the  very  first  introduction  of  slavery 
there  were  those  who  looked  upon  the  institu 
tion  as  wrong,  but  it  was 

Emancipation  suffered  to  remain  and  grow 
until  the  evils  of  it  became 
very  many  and  very  manifest.  Some  of  the 
wisest  and  best  people  in  the  South  considered 
it  not  only  a  moral  wrong,  but  an  economic 
evil,  and  believed  that  the  country  would  be 
more  prosperous  without  it  than  with  it. 
When,  however,  the  sentiment  against  it  in 
the  North  became  very  strong,  and  efforts 
were  made  to  prevent  by  legislation  its  spread 
14 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

into  new  Territories  and  States,  the  question 
became  a  political  one,  and  the  South  united 
almost  solidly  in  advocating  both  its  continu 
ance  and  its  extension.  Some  said  that  it 
could  not  be  abolished  ;  that  the  Negroes  were 
unfit  for  freedom  ;  that,  if  set  free,  they  would 
miserably  perish,  and  that  the  abolition  of 
slavery  would  produce  such  a  revolution  in 
the  condition  of  the  South  as  would  threaten 
that  entire  region  with  the  greatest  evils, 
economic,  social,  and  political.  Some  very 
curious  arguments  were  used  in  its  favor  :  one 
was  that  God  intended  the  Negroes  to  be 
slaves,  and  hence  made  them  black ;  another, 
that  all  working  people  should  be  slaves,  so 
that  they  could  be  better  controlled  by  their 
masters ;  still  another,  that  the  white  race 
would  reach  a  higher  stage  of  civilization  by 
holding  the  blacks  in  slavery.  Some  went  so 
far  as  to  declare  that  Negroes  were  not  human 
beings,  but  beasts  ;  that  they  had  no  souls  ; 
but  these  people  would  have  found  it  very 
difficult  to  explain  such  a  phenomenon  as  Fred 
Douglas. 

In  the  North  there  slowly  grew  up  a  very 
strong  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  entire 
abolition  of  slavery,  and  those  who  advocated 
15 


The  Negro  in  America 

this  action  were  called  ' '  Abolitionists. ' '  They 
formed  themselves  into  clubs  and  societies, 
published  newspapers,  pam- 
The  Abolitionists  phlets,  books,  made  ad 
dresses,  wrote  letters,  and 
in  a  great  variety  of  ways  strove  very  ear 
nestly  to  create  a  sentiment  against  slavery 
strong  enough  to  overthrow  it.  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  Wendell  Phillips,  Owen  Lovejoy, 
Charles  Sumner,  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
were  among  the  leading  champions  of  the  free 
dom  of  the  slaves.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe 
published  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  depicting 
the  horrors  of  slavery,  which  had  an  enormous 
circulation  and  exerted  a  profound  influence, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  many  Southern 
people  insisted  that  the  picture  was  overdrawn, 
and  that  slavery  was  not  so  bad  as  she  des 
cribed  it. 

In  1856  the  Free  Soilers,  as  they  were  called, 
had  acquired  force  enough  in  politics  to  secure 
the  nomination  of  General  John  C.  Fremont  as 
the  Republican  candidate  for  the  presidency, 
and,  although  he  was  not  elected,  he  received 
a  great  many  votes.  The  campaign  in  his  be 
half  intensified  the  public  sentiment  against 
slavery,  and,  in  consequence  of  this,  in  1860, 
16 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  was  elected 
president  of  the  United  States.  Many  of  the 
prominent  politicians  of  the  South  professed 
to  see  in  his  election  an  act  of  hostility  to 
slavery  and  an  encroachment  upon  the  rights 
of  the  Southern  people,  and  they  finally  in 
duced  a  large  number  of  the  States  to  try  to 
secede  from  the  Union  and  form  a  confederate 
government.  The  fundamental  principle  of  the 
secession  movement  was  the  doctrine  of  State 
rights  :  that  every  State  of  the  Union  had  the 
right  to  secede  whenever  the  people  thought 
it  best  for  their  own  interest. 

One  of  the  principal  motives  that  led  to  the 
formation  of  a  confederacy  was  the  protection 
and  perpetuation  of  slavery.  The  secession 
movement  led  to  one  of  the  most  disastrous 
wars  ever  waged,  which  continued  from  April, 
1861,  to  April,  1865,  and  cost  both  the  North 
and  the  South  the  expenditure  of  an  enormous 
quantity  of  blood  and  treasure.  The  war  was 
begun  by  the  South.  President  Lincoln  im 
mediately  called  into  service,  first,  seventy-five 
thousand  volunteer  soldiers  ;  and  he  continued 
to  call  for  new  troops  as  long  as  they  were 
needed,  until  the  war  was  ended.  His  pur 
pose,  and  that  of  the  great  army  that  he  called 
B  17 


The  Negro  in  America 

into  existence,  was  not  to  destroy  slavery,  but 
to  preserve  the  Union.  From  the  first,  how 
ever,  the  Abolitionists,  and  many  others,  be 
lieved  that  the  war  begun  for  the  perpetuation 
of  slavery  could  end  in  no  other  way  than  in 
its  destruction,  and  some  were  in  favor  of  tak 
ing  immediate  steps  for  this. 

President    Abraham   Lincoln,   after  a   great 
deal  of  discussion  and  very  much  urging  from 

the  Abolitionists  and  others, 
The  Great         c     ,,         r       . 

Proclamation  finally>  after  havjnS  glven 
warning  of  what  he  in 
tended  to  do,  unless  those  in  rebellion  against 
the  government  laid  down  their  arms,  issued 
on  January  i,  1863,  his  famous  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  which  declared  free  all  slaves 
held  in  the  States,  or  parts  of  States,  still  in 
rebellion  against  the  national  government. 
He  issued  this  act  as  a  war  measure.  As 
president  of  the  United  States,  he  was  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  the  navy,  and 
had  a  right  to  emancipate  the  slaves  if  thereby 
he  could  weaken  the  power  of  those  who  were 
trying  to  destroy  the  Union,  and  thus  contrib 
ute  to  the  preservation  of  the  life  of  the  Re 
public.  By  this  act,  and  by  subsequent  legis 
lation,  all  the  slaves  became  free,  and  can 
18 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

never  again  be  enslaved.  By  a  change  in  the 
Constitution  they  were  enfranchised,  /".  e. , 
they  were  allowed  the  privilege  of  voting  and 
holding  office  the  same  as  white  men.  These 
two  acts,  emancipation  and  enfranchisement, 
together  mark  a  great  epoch,  or  new  starting- 
point,  in  the  history  of  the  Africans  in  Amer 
ica  ;  heretofore,  they  had  been  slaves  that 
could  be  bought  and  sold  just  as  cattle  are 
bought  and  sold,  without  any  rights  which  the 
white  man  was  bound  to  respect ;  hereafter 
they  were  to  be  free  men  and  women,  entitled 
to  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  American 
citizenship.  This  was  a  very  great  change, 
in  their  situation.  Many  people  thought  that 
they  would  die  if  thus  set  free  ;  that  they  would 
become  absolutely  poor ;  that  they  could  not 
care  for  themselves ;  that  they  would  become 
lawless  desperadoes.  But,  happily,  no  one  of 
these  things  has  proved  to  be  true. 

The  Negroes  did  not  fully  understand  what 
the  Civil  War  meant.  They  could  not  read  and 
their  masters  purposely  kept 
them  in  ignorance  as  to  the  n 
real  state  of  things.  There 
was,  however,  a  very  general  impression  among 
them  that  the  "Yankees"  were  their  friends, 
19 


The  Negro  in  America 

and  many  of  them  believed  that  the  Union 
army  was  coming  South  to  set  them  free,  but, 
of  course,  they  could  not  express  openly  their 
desire  for  freedom,  nor  their  hopes  for  the 
coming  of  "Massa  Linkum's  soldiers."  Some 
of  them  had  very  absurd  notions  about  North 
ern  people  ;  they  had  been  told,  and  some  of 
them  actually  believed,  that  the  Yankee 
soldiers  had  horns,  and  it  was  very  amusing 
to  see  the  curious  expression  on  their  faces 
when  they  had  their  first  sight  of  Union 
soldiers.  Notwithstanding  all  the  excitement 
occasioned  by  the  war,  the  great  body  of  the 
slaves  remained  quietly  at  home  following  their 
ordinary  pursuits.  A  very  large  proportion  of 
the  able-bodied  white  men  were  in  the  South 
ern  army,  so  that  in  numerous  cases  the  white 
women  and  children  were  left  alone  with  the 
Negro  servants.  The  food  for  the  families 
and  the  supplies  for  the  Southern  army  were 
raised  chiefly  by  the  labor  of  the  slaves,  and 
it  is  an  interesting  fact  that  there  were  very 
few  cases  of  complaint  on  the  part  of  white 
women  and  children  against  them  during  the 
war.  They  seemed  to  feel  that  they  were  en 
trusted  with  the  care  of  the  white  folks  and 
took  a  pride  in  being  faithful  to  their  trust. 
20 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

There  were  instances  in  which  white  women, 
on  the  approach  of  the  Northern  armies,  con 
fided  to  the  keeping  of  their  slaves  their 
money,  jewels,  and  other  valuable  property 
which  they  feared  might  fall  into  the  hands  of 
the  soldiers  ;  they  rarely  betrayed  even  this 
trust. 

In  many  cases  Southern  white  officers  took 
their  body  servants  with  them  into  the  army, 
where  they  remained  for  the  most  part  loyal 
and  faithful.  Their  good  conduct  at  home 
during  the  war  served  to  awaken  a  great  deal 
of  gratitude  and  admiration  for  them  on  the 
part  of  the  white  people  of  the  South.  If  the 
Negroes  had  been  so  disposed,  they  had  it  in 
their  power  to  work  great  harm  during  the  ab 
sence  of  their  masters  and  to  inflict  irreparable 
injury  on  the  helpless  women  and  children. 

A  very  considerable  number  left  their  homes 
and   passed   the    lines    of    the    Union    army. 
Some    of    them    did    this 
thinking  they  might  imme-    "Contrabands" 
diately  gain  their  freedom, 
having  very  extravagant  and  crude  notions  of 
what  freedom  meant.      Quite  a  number  found 
employment  in  the  Union  army  as  cooks  and 
waiters,  but  most  of  them  had  a  hard  time  of 
21 


The  Negro  in  America 

it.  General  Benjamin  F.  Butler  justified  him 
self  in  seizing  upon  the  slaves  "because,"  he 
said,  "they  were  contraband  of  war";  and  so 
they  came  to  be  almost  universally  called 
' l  Contrabands. ' '  The  places  where  they  were 
herded  together  to  be  fed  and  cared  for  were 
called  "  Contraband  camps. "  Their  poverty, 
ignorance,  and  helplessness  at  once  excited  the 
pity  of  philanthropic  people  in  the  North  and 
teachers  and  missionaries  were  sent  among 
them  ;  but  not  much  could  be  done,  because 
these  camps  were  temporary  and  soon  broken 
up. 

After  a  great  deal  of  discussion,  in  which 
much  was  said  both  for  and  against  it,  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  decided  to  enlist  Negro  troops 
for  the  Union  army.  This  was  one  way  of 
finding  employment  for  the  able-bodied  men, 
who  were  very  much  better  off  with  something 
to  do  than  if  they  remained  idle.  Besides 
this,  the  wages  that  they  would  earn  as  soldiers 
would  enable  them  to  do  something  toward 
caring  for  their  families  and  other  friends  who 
were  dependent  upon  them  for  support.  At 
first  it  was  feared  that  they  would  not  make 
good  soldiers  because  they  were  so  ignorant 
and  so  servile  in  disposition.  It  was  thought, 
22 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

however,  that  if  they  were  properly  organized 
and  drilled  they  would  at  least  be  useful  in 
constructing  fortifications  and  in  guarding 
military  posts,  thus  relieving  an  equal  number 
of  veteran  white  soldiers  who  could  take 
their  places  at  the  front  to  do  the  fight 
ing.  There  were  those  who  believed  from 
the  first  that  they  would  make  good  soldiers ; 
that  they  were  imitative,  teachable,  ambitious 
to  excel,  proud  of  being  called  men  and  treated 
as  soldiers,  and  very  desirous  of  doing  some 
thing  toward  gaining  their  own  liberties.  The 
result  showed  that  they  were  right.  Nearly 
two  hundred  thousand  Negro  troops  were  or 
ganized,  some  as  infantry,  some  as  cavalry,  and 
some  as  light  and  heavy  artillery ;  they  per 
formed  all  kinds  of  military  duty,  took  part  in 
many  hard-fought  battles,  and  showed  them 
selves  to  be  in  many  respects  admirable 
soldiers.  They  became  very  skillful  in  the 
manual  of  arms  ;  learned  all  the  movements 
of  the  soldier  in  companies,  regiments,  and 
brigades  ;  kept  their  clothes,  their  arms,  and 
their  camps  in  good  condition  ;  stood  very 
well  the  fatigue  and  hardships  of  heavy 
marches  ;  were  patient  under  wounds  and  sick 
ness  ;  endured  quietly  the  hunger  and  other 
23 


The  Negro  in  America 

deprivations  incident  to  army  life  ;  were  obedi 
ent  to  their  officers  ;  were  very  brave  in  bat 
tle  ;  and  were  thoughtful  and  kind  toward  white 
Southern  prisoners  whom  they  captured.  Al 
though  they  were  not  so  intelligent  and  hence 
not  so  independent  and  self-reliant  as  most  of 
the  white  soldiers  of  the  Union  army,  they 
made  a  good  record  for  themselves,  and  Negro 
troops  have  formed  a  part  of  the  regular  army 
ever  since  the  close  of  the  war. 

At  first  there  was  a  great  deal  of  prejudice 
against  them  on  the  part  of  the  white  soldiers, 
but  gradually  this  prejudice  wore  away  and 
Negro  troops  were  treated  with  the  same  re 
spect  and  confidence  as  white  troops.  In  some 
instances  white  regiments  said  that  they  would 
rather  march  and  fight  by  the  side  of  well- 
drilled,  brave  Negro  regiments  than  with  any 
other. 

Naturally  there  was  much  indignation  in  the 
South  because  the  North  had  organized  slaves 
into  regiments  of  soldiers,  and  many  threats 
were  made  that  if  Negro  troops  were  captured 
in  battle  they  would  be  killed  without  mercy, 
and  their  officers  would  share  the  same  fate. 
These  threats,  however,  only  made  the  colored 
soldiers  more  careful  and  more  courageous, 
24 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

and  stimulated  their  white  officers  to  greater 
diligence  in  drilling  them  for  service,  and  in 
preventing  their  being  captured.  The  preju 
dice  of  even  Southern  soldiers  and  people 
against  them  gradually  wore  away,  and  there 
were  very  few  instances  in  which  those  taken 
prisoners  were  treated  with  exceptional  cruelty. 
When  the  Negroes  had  been  emancipated 
and  enfranchised,  the  appalling  fact  presented 

itself  of  four  million  Ameri- 

.  ,  The  Negroes 

can  citizens,  without  educa-         .     0  . 

in  School 

tion  and  without  political 
experience.  Here  they  were,  just  emerging 
from  bondage,  blinded  by  the  glittering  light  of 
freedom,  without  experience,  without  leader 
ship.  Here  were  numbers  of  churches  with 
pastors  who  could  not  read  a  word  of  the  Bible 
they  were  trying  to  explain  ;  here  were  multi 
tudes  of  children  who  ought  to  be  in  Sunday- 
school,  but  who  had  no  teachers ;  here  was  a 
great  host  of  young  people  growing  up  without 
knowledge,  deprived  of  the  care  of  their  mas 
ters  because  they  were  free,  and  having  no 
body  to  provide  for  them ;  they  were,  indeed, 
like  sheep  without  a  shepherd,  and  unless  some 
thing  were  done  for  them  they  would  speedily 
fall  a  prey  to  ravening  wolves. 
25 


The  Negro  in  America 

The  government  organized  what  was  called 
the  "Freedmen's  Bureau,"  and  placed  at  the 
head  of  it  General  O.  O.  Howard,  a  Christian 
gentleman,  a  philanthropist,  a  brave  soldier, 
and  a  broad-minded  statesman.  For  several 
years  this  bureau  labored  earnestly  and  effici 
ently  to  improve  the  welfare  of  the  Negroes, 
and  accomplished  great  good.  The  govern 
ment  did  not  undertake  to  establish  schools 
directly,  but  the  bureau  encouraged  all  educa 
tional  movements  among  them. 

Even  before  the  war  closed  the  philanthropic 
people  of  the  North  sent  missionaries  and 
teachers  to  labor  among  the  "  Contrabands," 
and  in  many  of  the  important  cities  of  most  of 
the  Southern  States  there  were  established 
Christian  schools,  having  at  first  special  refer 
ence  to  giving  a  rudimentary  education  to 
those  who  intended  to  preach.  It  was  felt 
that  the  preachers  ought  at  least  to  be  able  to 
read  the  Bible,  as  well  as  to  know  some 
thing  of  what  the  Bible  taught.  The  work  of 
these  schools  was  necessarily,  in  the  beginning, 
very  primitive.  They  were  attended  at  first 
by  a  good  many  old  men,  who,  with  their 
spectacles  on,  pored  over  their  spelling  lessons 
like  little  children  in  the  primary  department. 
26 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

But  even  with  these  crude  beginnings  they  ac 
complished  from  the  outset  a  very  important 
work  ;  the  teachers  met  the  pupils  not  only  in 
their  class-rooms,  where  they  learned  to  read 
and  write  and  spell,  but  they  taught  them  a 
great  many  useful  things  besides,  and  so  helped 
them  to  do  the  work  they  were  called  upon  to 
perform.  These  schools  were  at  first  held  in 
some  instances  in  Negro  cabins,  in  other 
cases  in  the  dark,  damp  basements  of  Negro 
churches. 

Thirty-five  years  have  gone  by  since  these 
institutions  were  started,  and  the  change  that 

has  taken  place  in  them  is 

i     r  i  •    j     j      T.     j  A  Great 

wonderful  indeed.     To-day       Revo|ution 

the  Baptists  alone  are  assist 
ing  in  supporting  more  than  thirty  of  them  for 
the  Negroes  in  the  South.  One  of  these  is  a 
high-grade  theological  seminary,  at  Richmond, 
Va.,  where  more  than  fifty  young  men  are 
pursuing  a  course  of  study  similar  to  that  pur 
sued  in  the  best  theological  seminaries  in  the 
North.  Another  is  Shaw  University,  at  Ra 
leigh,  N.  C. ,  where  there  is  an  academic  de 
partment,  a  normal  department,  a  college,  a 
school  of  pharmacy,  a  law  school,  and  a  medi 
cal  school.  This  one  institution  has  accom- 
27 


The  Negro  in  America 

plished  for  the  State  of  North  Carolina  a  work 
that  is  very  difficult  to  describe  on  account  of 
its  extent  and  importance.  One  of  the  great 
est  schools  of  the  kind  in  the  world  is  Spelman 
Seminary,  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  where  there  is  a 
beautiful  campus,  a  number  of  splendid  brick 
buildings,  a  large  faculty,  and  a  great  body  of 
Negro  girls  and  women.  They  are  instructed 
in  cooking,  sewing,  housekeeping ;  are  taught 
typesetting ;  are  trained  as  nurses  for  the  sick 
room  ;  are  fitted  to  become  missionaries,  and 
there  is  a  well-equipped  normal  school  where 
they  are  educated  for  high-grade  work  as  teach 
ers.  There  are  other  schools,  at  Nashville, 
Tenn. ,  Columbia,  S.  C. ,  Marshall,  Texas,  and 
elsewhere.  During  the  last  year  more  than  five 
thousand  pupils  were  in  attendance,  and  it  is 
the  testimony  of  all  who  are  acquainted  with 
them  that  the  students  are  industrious  and  ca 
pable.  Those  who  have  gone  out  from  these 
institutions  to  become  teachers,  pastors,  law 
yers,  doctors,  editors,  and  to  fill  other  useful 
occupations,  are  among  the  foremost  men  and 
women  of  the  race,  and  are  doing  an  invalua 
ble  work  for  their  people. 

The  Baptists  of  the  North  have  expended 
in  this  educational  work,  since  the  war,  more 
28 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

than  three  million  dollars,  and  they  are  spend 
ing  now  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  dollars 
every  year  to  carry  it  on. 

The    Negroes    have    organized    schools    at 
Louisville,   Ky.  ;    Selma,   Ala.  ;    Little  Rock, 
Ark.  ;    Macon,    Mo.  ;    Au 
gusta,      Ga.  ;      Lynchburg,     Negro  Schools 
Va.,  and  elsewhere,  which 
they  are    conducting    themselves.       They  are 
under  the  control  of  Negro  Boards  of  Trustees, 
are  taught  by  Negro  faculties,  and  most  of  the 
money  needed  for  their  sppport  is  contributed 
by  the   Negroes.      Nearly  all  of  them,    how 
ever,  receive    some   help   from   the   American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society. 

Of  the  eight  million  Negroes  now  in  the 
country  more  than  one  million  six  hundred 
thousand  are  members  of  Baptist  churches, 
and  a  great  many  more  are  in  sympathy  with 
the  Baptists,  and  naturally  look  to  them  for 
aid  in  missionary  and  educational  work.  The 
Negroes  are  poor,  and  are  not  yet  able  to 
carry  on  their  educational  work  without  help, 
and  one  of  the  most  beneficent  schemes  ever 
devised  and  carried  on  by  Christian  people 
anywhere  in  the  world  at  any  time,  is  that 
of  establishing  among  them  these  Christian 
29 


The  Negro  in  America 

schools  of  learning  for  the  development  of 
their  manhood  and  womanhood,  the  formation 
of  their  Christian  character,  and  the  prepara 
tion  for  usefulness  of  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  of  those  who  are  to  be  leaders  of 
their  race. 

Many  others  besides  the  Baptists  have  been 
and  are  engaged  in  this  important  work, 
among  them  being  the  Congregationalists, 
Methodists,  and  Presbyterians.  Some  of  the 
great  schools  they  have  established  and  fos 
tered  are  Hampton  Institute  in  Virginia,  Fisk 
University  in  Nashville,  Straight  University  at 
New  Orleans,  Biddle  University  in  North 
Carolina,  Clarke  and  Atlanta  Universities  in 
Georgia,  and  Tuskeegee  Institute  in  Alabama. 

In  addition  to  the  work  done  by  the  re 
ligious  denominations,  the  most  important  help 
furnished  to  Negro  education  by  persons  not 
living  in  the  South  has  been  given  through  the 
Peabody  and  Slater  Funds,  which  comprise  sev 
eral  million  dollars.  The  first  secretary  of  this 
great  beneficent  educational  fund  was  a  North 
ern  man,  Rev.  Dr.  Barnas  Sears,  once  presi 
dent  of  Brown  University ;  the  next  two  were 
the  late  Dr.  Haygood,  of  Georgia,  and  Hon. 
J.  L.  M.  Curry,  of  Virginia,  both  Southern 
30 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

men  and  both  very  earnest,  intelligent,  and 
faithful  in  disbursing  the  money  for  the  best 
interests  of  all  concerned.  The  Slater  Fund 
was  exclusively  for  the  benefit  of  the  Negroes, 
while  the  Peabody  Fund  was  for  all. 

Besides  the  philanthropic  work  inaugurated 
by  Northern  capital,  there  has  now  been 
established  in  all  the  South 
ern  States  a  public  school  Pub  Jgchools 
system  for  the  equal  bene 
fit  of  white  and  Negro  children.  In  the  North, 
colored  children  can  attend  all  schools  and 
colleges  and  universities,  but  in  the  South  they 
have  separate  schools  and  are  not  allowed  to 
attend  any  others.  The  young  Negroes  of 
the  South,  therefore,  do  not  have  the  same 
opportunity  for  acquiring  a  liberal  education 
that  white  children  have  either  in  the  South 
or  North.  Their  public  schools  are,  as  yet, 
not  of  a  high  order,  being  taught  almost  en 
tirely  by  Negroes,  very  many  of  whom  are 
but  poorly  prepared  for  their  work.  The 
schoolhouses,  especially  in  the  country,  are 
poor ;  they  are  not  well  supplied  with  books 
or  apparatus,  and  the  schools  continue  only  a 
few  months  in  the  year.  Nevertheless,  they 
are  accomplishing  a  great  deal  of  good,  and 


The  Negro  in  America 

are  being  improved  from  year  to  year,  so  that 
by  and  by  they  will  probably  become  very  effi 
cient.  The  great  body  of  Negro  children 
must  depend  upon  the  public  schools  for  their 
education,  hence  these  schools  should  have 
the  sympathy  and  support  of  all  classes  of  peo 
ple.  The  Southern  States  are  entitled  to  great 
credit  for  what  has  already  been  done  in  this 
work. 

One  of  the  most  hopeful  factors  in  the  de 
velopment  of  the  Negro  race,  the  improve 
ment  of  their  material  and  moral  condi 
tion,  has  been  their  thirst  for  knowledge. 
This  was  particularly  characteristic  of  those 
who  had  been  slaves,  whom  it  was  unlawful  to 
teach  to  read  and  write,  and  who  were  thus 
shut  out  from  even  the  simplest  rudiments  of 
a  common  English  education.  They  were  al 
most  universally  eager  to  get  an  education, 
and  when  the  opportunity  was  presented 
not  only  multitudes  of  adults,  but  many  old 
men  and  women,  took  their  places  along  with 
little  children  in  schoolrooms.  While  there 
are  marked  exceptions  not  a  few,  yet  it  is  still 
true  of  the  Negroes  as  a  body  that  they  are 
anxious  to  learn. 

In  Africa  there  is  an  immense  number  of 
32 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

Negroes,  how  many  nobody  knows,  but  prob 
ably  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two 

hundred  millions.    Some  of 

Negro 
these   apparently  have   no        christians 

religion  at  all ;  many  are 
idolaters,  some  Mohammedans,  and  a  very 
few  are  Christians.  Of  the  eight  millions  in 
this  country,  a  very  large  proportion  belong  to 
Christian  churches;  one  million  six  hundred 
thousand  are  reported  to  be  members  of  Bap 
tist  churches,  about  the  same  number  are  en 
rolled  in  Methodist  churches,  and  besides 
these  there  are  Presbyterians,  Congregational- 
ists,  Episcopalians,  and  others.  It  is  a  singu 
lar  fact  that  perhaps  a  larger  proportion  of  Ne 
groes  are  enrolled  as  church-members  than  of 
any  other  class  of  people,  and  in  this  respect 
the  contrast  between  the  Africans  in  America 
and  those  in  Africa  is  very  striking. 

In  the  days  of  slavery  they  usually  attended 
the  same  churches  as  their  masters,  being  al 
lowed  to  sit  in  the  back  seats  or  in  the  gal 
leries,  where  they  listened  to  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel.  Many  of  them  were  converted 
and  were  received  as  members  of  white 
churches.  Services  were  frequently  held  es 
pecially  for  them,  and  many  eminent  Southern 
c  33 


The  Negro  in  America 

preachers  took  great  satisfaction  in  preaching 
to  them. 

After  the  war  the  Negro  Christians  almost 
universally  separated  themselves  from  their 
white  brethren  and  formed  churches  of  their 
own  ;  they  preferred  to  have  Negro  pastors,  to 
carry  on  their  own  religious  work,  and  to  con 
duct  their  services  in  their  own  fashion.  There 
has  been  very  naturally  a  good  deal  of  very 
crude  preaching  and  some  strange  customs  in 
connection  with  their  religious  worship.  They 
are  an  emotional  people,  fond  of  excitement, 
and  oftentimes  in  their  churches  they  give 
themselves  up  to  a  kind  of  religious  frenzy, 
shouting,  screaming  and  doing  many  things 
which  seem  very  strange  to  outsiders.  It 
ought  to  be  said,  however,  that  in  some  cases 
they  have  copied  these  curious  customs  from 
white  people,  and  that  even  to-day  there  are 
white  congregations  whose  manner  of  worship 
is  quite  as  grotesque  as  theirs.  It  should  also 
be  especially  remembered  that  there  is  a  great 
improvement  in  this  respect,  and  to-day  very 
many  of  their  congregations  are  as  quiet, 
orderly,  and  decorous  as  those  made  up  of 
highly  cultivated  white  people. 

At  first  their  pastors  were  ignorant  and  their 
34 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

preaching  of  a  very  poor  quality.  At  the 
present  time,  however,  there  are  found  many 
Negro  pastors  who  have  been  well  educated, 
some  in  schools,  some  in  colleges,  and  some 
in  theological  seminaries,  whose  preaching  is 
intelligent,  biblical,  earnest,  and  effective. 
Indeed,  some  of  them  are  eloquent  and 
preach  sermons  remarkable  for  their  oratorical 
power.  They  have  vivid  imaginations,  a  sur 
prising  command  of  language  (which  is  not 
always  used  with  exactness),  and  they  fre 
quently  preach  with  extraordinary  fervor. 
They  usually  assume  a  larger  degree  of  author 
ity  over  their  churches  and  rule  their  congre 
gations  much  more  absolutely  than  pastors  of 
intelligent  white  churches  are  wont  to  do ; 
but  this  evil  will  correct  itself  as  the  members 
of  the  churches  grow  in  intelligence,  indepen 
dence,  and  the  power  of  self-government. 

When  the  war  closed  the  Negroes  had  very 
few  and  very  poor  houses  of  worship,  but  now 
all  through  the  South  are  to  be  found  meeting 
houses  which  they  have  built,  chiefly  with  their 
own  money,  and  many  of  them  are  large, 
comfortable,  convenient,  and  even  costly.  It 
is  remarkable  and  much  to  their  credit  that 
they  have  been  willing,  out  of  their  small 
35 


The  Negro  in  America 

earnings,  to  contribute  such  large  amounts  to 
build  meeting-houses. 

It  is  sometimes   asserted  that  their  religion 
does    not    always    control    their   action  ;    that 

their    profession    is    better 
Religion  and  .    . 

Right  Living  than  their  Practlce>  wh^h 
is  probably  true  of  Chris 
tians  generally.  We  should  remember  that 
under  the  system  of  slavery  they  imbibed  very 
erroneous  notions  of  morality.  They  did  not 
think  it  wrong  to  steal  from  their  masters,  be 
cause  they  were  only  helping  themselves  to 
what  they  had  produced  by  their  toil ;  they 
could  not  see  why  it  was  right  for  the  white 
men  to  take  possession  of  them,  buy  and  sell 
them  like  cattle,  and  appropriate  to  their  own 
use.  without  their  consent,  all  that  they  earned 
by  their  labor.  Among  free,  intelligent  people 
the  family  and  the  home  are  sacred.  The  re 
lations  of  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child, 
brother  and  sister,  are  very  sweet  and  tender, 
and  are  the  foundation  of  noble  characters. 
Among  the  slaves  there  could  be  no  families, 
and  all  these  dear  relations  were  disregarded 
and  trampled  upon,  so  that  the  standard  of 
morality  and  the  rules  of  conduct  common  in 
Christian  families  would  be  unknown  among 
36 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

slaves.  When  they  became  free,  so  that  the 
husband  could  have  his  own  wife  and  the  pa 
rents  could  care  for  their  own  children,  a  new 
order  of  things  was  introduced.  But  necessa 
rily  it  takes  a  great  deal  of  time  to  develop  ideas 
of  morality  which  are  permanent  and  forceful 
in  regulating  conduct,  although  they  are  mak 
ing  rapid  and  hopeful  progress  in  this  direc 
tion. 

There  is  needed  among  them  a  very  much 
larger  number  of  pious,   able  men  who  have 
been  well  educated  and  es 
pecially  trained  for  the  office         Need  of  an 
of    pastor.      One  "fact   will  Educated  Ministry 
serve  to  show  how  great  is 
this  need  :  There  are  in  the  North  about  one 
million  white  Baptists,  and  there  are  five  great 
theological  seminaries  where  young  men    are 
trained  to  be  pastors,  and  this  is  not  too  many. 
There  are  in  the  South  one  million  six  hundred 
thousand  Negro  Baptists,  and  there  is  only  one 
solitary  Baptist  theological  seminary  to  furnish 
for   their  churches   a  well-educated   ministry. 
There  ought  to  be  at  least  two  more,  one  at 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  and  one  at  Marshall,  Texas,  and 
there  would  be,  if  money  could  be  found  to 
establish  and  maintain  them. 
37 


The  Negro  in  America 

The  development  of  the  moral  and  religious 
life  of  any  people  is  very  difficult  and  neces 
sarily  very  slow ;  many  generations  must  pass 
away  before  it  can  be  accomplished.  It  is  now 
nearly  one  thousand  nine  hundred  years  since 
the  establishment  of  Christianity  upon  the 
earth,  and  even  the  most  favored  white  people 
who  have  enjoyed  the  best  opportunities  have 
not  yet  embodied  in  their  lives,  individually 
and  collectively,  the  teachings  and  spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that 
the  Negroes  would  make  much  greater  progress 
in  their  moral  and  religious  growth  than  has 
been  made  by  white  people  under  even 
more  favorable  circumstances.  Those  who  are 
best  acquainted  with  them  believe  that  they 
will  develop  a  high  type  of  religious  life. 
They  are  fond  of  music  ;  many  of  them  greatly 
excel  as  singers,  and  no  doubt  they  will  at 
tain  to  a  high  order  of  sacred  music  in  their 
churches.  They  are  a  sympathetic  and  liberal 
people,  which  will  lead  them  to  be  generous 
in  their  contributions  for  the  care  of  the  sick 
and  poor  and  for  sending  the  gospel  to  the 
heathen.  Their  pulpit  oratory,  while  con 
forming  more  and  more  to  accepted  standards 
among  white  people,  will  doubtless  retain  for 

38 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

generations  something  of  its  own  fervor  and 
rhetorical  embellishments.  They  have  as  yet 
very  much  to  learn  regarding  effective  organiza 
tion  for  educational,  religious,  and  missionary 
work,  but  in  this  too  they  are  making  fair 
progress,  and  education,  experience,  and  time 
will  do  for  them  what  it  has  done  for  others. 
We  are  now  entering  upon  what  promises  to 
be  an  era  of  co-operation  in  behalf  of  the 
evangelization  and  educa 
tion  of  the  Negroes.  There  Co-operation 
are  several  very  distinct 
stages  which  mark  the  progress  of  this  people 
in  America,  to  some  of  which  allusion  has  al 
ready  been  made.  First,  there  was  the  bar 
baric  heathenism  in  which  they  lived  in  their 
native  land  ;  then  there  were  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  of  American  bondage  in  which  they 
acquired  a  forced  acquaintance  with  the  rudi 
ments  of  civilization  ;  this  was  followed  by 
the  stage  of  helplessness  incident  upon  their 
sudden  liberation  from  bondage  while  unpre 
pared  for  freedom.  During  this  stage  they 
could  do  very  little  for  their  own  moral  or  in 
tellectual  improvement  and  were  dependent 
chiefly  upon  the  missionaries  and  teachers  who 
were  sent  to  them  from  the  North.  Most  of 
39 


The  Negro  in  America 

the  white  people  of  the  South  felt  aggrieved 
because  the  Negroes  had  been  set  free  ;  they 
were  impoverished  by  the  dreadful  war,  and 
many  of  them  were  much  embittered  against 
both  the  Negroes  and  the  North  because  their 
former  slaves  had  not  only  been  emancipated, 
but  also  enfranchised.  They  could  not  be  ex 
pected  at  once  to  enter  heartily  into  the  work 
of  providing  schools  for  their  proper  educa 
tion,  and  for  many  years  those  established  by 
the  Northerners  found  little  favor  among  them. 
The  teachers  who  went  South  were  not  gen 
erally  received  into  good  society,  and  were 
classed  with  the  people  they  came  to  teach. 
Unfortunately  this  social  ostracism  is  not  yet 
wholly  a  thing  of  the  past. 

In  some  cases  the  Negroes  have  been  a  little 
restive  under  the  work  done  for  them  by  their 
Northern  friends,  and  have  urged  very  strongly 
that  more  of  their  own  number  should  be  em 
ployed  as  teachers  and  members  of  Boards  of 
trustees,  in  extreme  cases  even  insisting  that 
the  schools  established  for  them  by  Northern 
philanthropy  and  money  should  be  turned  over 
to  their  exclusive  management.  But  it  re 
quires  a  great  deal  of  wisdom  and  experience 
to  manage  educational  institutions  successfully, 
40 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

and  those  who  have  done  most  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  these  schools  in  the  South  have 
felt  that  the  interest  of  the  Negroes  themselves 
would  be  best  promoted  by  having  their  man 
agement  continue  in  the  hands  of  their  found 
ers.  It  has  not  been  easy  to  reconcile  these 
conflicting  policies,  but  time  is  a  great  healer 
and  is  doing  its  beneficent  work  in  this  as  in 
other  cases. 

Some  extremists  among  the  Negroes  are  in 
favor  of  drawing  the  color  line  ;   that  is,  they 
wish  to  separate  themselves 
as  far  as  possible  from  white       Drawing  the 
people  ;  they  strongly  insist         Color  Line 
that  they  ought  to  prosecute 
their  own  missionary  work,  publish  their  own 
literature,  manage  their  own  schools,  and  not 
be  dependent  in  any  respect  upon  white  peo 
ple,  against  whom  they  have  a  strong  race  prej 
udice.     This  is  a  very  foolish  attitude.     "  God 
made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  the  earth," 
and  one  of  the  ripest  fruits  of  Christianity,  and 
one  of  the  most  precious  results  of  Christian 
civilization,  is  the  destruction  of  the  race  bar 
riers  between  different  peoples.     The  destiny 
of  the  Negroes  in  America  is  indissolubly  linked 
with  that  of  the  white  people.     The  present 


The  Negro  in  America 

generation  of  them  owe  the  progress  which 
they  have  made  since  emancipation  largely  to 
the  help  afforded  them  by  white  people  ;  un 
aided  they  never  could  have  established  for 
themselves  the  schools  which  have  done  so 
much  for  them.  They  have  not  been  able  to 
properly  equip,  much  less  to  endow,  a  single 
school  for  themselves.  If  the  white  Baptists, 
who  have  expended  already  more  than  three 
million  dollars  for  their  benefit,  and  are  to-day 
making  an  annual  expenditure  of  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  support 
of  their  schools  and  the  promotion  of  mis 
sionary  work,  should  withdraw  their  support,  it 
would  be  an  unspeakable  calamity.  After  the 
Negroes  have  done  all  that  they  possibly  can  do 
to  help  themselves,  and  after  the  white  people 
have  done  all  that  they  can  be  induced  to  do, 
the  Negroes  will  still  be  without  the  educa 
tional  advantages  and  religious  privileges  which 
they  very  greatly  need.  To  Christianize  and 
educate  eight  million  people  is  a  herculean  task 
and  calls  for  the  united  effort  of  all  uplifting 
forces.  Instead  of  seeking  to  separate  be 
tween  the  white  and  the  black  people  of  this 
country,  every  effort  should  be  made  to  unite 
them  closer  and  closer  in  all  that  looks  toward 
42 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

the  education  and  Christianization  of  the  Ne 
groes. 

The  educational  and  missionary  work  which 
the  Northern  Baptists  are  doing  for  the  Ne 
groes  is  carried  on  especially  by  four  great  or 
ganizations — the  American  Baptist  Home  Mis 
sion  Society,  the  American  Baptist  Publica 
tion  Society,  the  Women's  Home  Mission  So 
ciety  of  New  England,  and  the  Women's 
Home  Mission  Society  of  Chicago.  The  New 
England  Women's  Society  is  now  co-operating 
very  fully  with  the  parent  Society  in  New 
York  ;  the  Western  Women's  Society  co-oper 
ates  in  part. 

A  movement  is  now  in  progress  looking 
toward  the  organization  of  Negro  State  educa 
tion  societies  to  co-operate  heartily  with  the 
Home  Mission  Society  in  organizing,  unifying, 
and  rendering  efficient  all  Negro  educational 
work.  This  plan  is  in  very  successful  opera 
tion  in  Virginia,  Tennessee,  Georgia,  and 
Mississippi ;  it  is  expected  that  other  Southern 
States  will  very  quickly  follow  their  lead. 

There  is  also  a  plan  of  co-operation  which 

unites  the  Home   Mission  Society,  the  Home 

Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  the 

white  State  Convention,  and  the  Negro  State 

43 


The  Negro  in  America 

Conventions,  in  carrying  on,  especially,  mission 
ary  work  among  the  Negroes.  A  very  impor 
tant  series  of  "  New  Era  Institutes  "  are  being 
held,  where  lectures  are  delivered  by  both 
white  and  colored  pastors,  and  where  a  great 
deal  of  good  is  being  done  in  fitting  pastors, 
Sunday-school  superintendents,  teachers,  and 
others,  for  more  effective  Christian  work.  This 
plan  L  now  in  successful  operation  in  Virginia, 
North  and  South  Carolina,  Alabama,  Ken 
tucky,  and  Missouri,  and  it  is  hoped  and  be 
lieved  that  before  a  great  while  all  the  Baptist 
forces  of  the  North  and  South  will  be  working 
together  to  promote  the  highest  moral,  relig 
ious,  and  intellectual  interests  of  the  Negroes. 
The  progress  of  any  people  from  a  state  of 
savagery  up  through  barbarism  to  a  high  stage 
of  civilization  is  a  complex  and  tedious  one. 
The  ancestors  of  the  white  people  now  living 
in"  America  were  savages  many  centuries  ago, 
and  our  present  civilization  is  the  result  of 
many  co-operating  forces.  No  race  or  people 
has  ever  attained  high  civilization  without  out 
side  help,  and  the  highest  civilization  is  im 
possible  without  co-operation.  If  the  Negroes 
in  America  are  ever  to  become  highly  civilized, 
so  as  to  participate  in  all  the  advantages  and 
44 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

privileges  of  modern  science,  philosophy, 
politics,  and  religion,  they  must  have  the  sym 
pathy  and  the  help  of  white  people.  At  the 
same  time  they  must  do  all  they  can  to  help 
themselves,  and  not  only  this,  if  they  are  to 
reach  the  highest  stage  of  life,  they  must  help 
other  people.  No  nation  or  people  can  become 
great  in  the  true  sense  who  concentrate  their 
efforts  upon  themselves.  It  is  just  as  true  of 
people  and  nations  as  it  is  of  individuals,  that 
"no  man  liveth  to  himself." 

Very  many  more  things  of  interest  might  be 
said  concerning  the  Negroes  in  America,  their 
political    life,    their    indus 
tries,  what  they  have  done      Negro  Baptist 
in  music,  poetry,  painting,      Young  People 
etc.,    and    something    too 
about  their  social  ostracism  and  the  cruelties 
to  which  they  are  subjected  at  the  hands  of 
mobs,    etc.,    but    limits    of    space    forbid.      A 
word,  however,  must  be  said  about  their  young 
people.       There    is    now   a    host    of    several 
thousand   Baptist  young  people   belonging  to 
the  white  Baptist  churches  of  the  North,  and 
multitudes    of    these    have    allied    themselves 
with  the  Young  People's  Union.      Connected 
with  the  Negro  Baptist  churches  in  the  South 
45 


The  Negro  in  America 

are  nearly  twice  as  many  young  people  as  are 
found  among  the  white  churches  in  the  North, 
and  some  of  these  have  also  formed  themselves 
into  unions.  The  work  of  organization  has 
not  been  carried  forward  among  them  as  it 
has  among  the  white  young  people  of  the 
North,  and  very  few  attend  the  great  National 
Conventions  ;  this  is  true  partly  because  not 
many  of  them  can  afford  to  spend  their  little 
means  in  taking  long  journeys. 

A  great  deal  of  good  is  being  accomplished 
among  the  Baptist  Young  People  through  the 
Union.  Those  who  are  pursuing  the  Christian 
Culture  Courses  carefully  are  acquiring  much 
valuable  information  about  Christianity,  about 
Baptist  churches  and  Baptist  history,  which  will 
be  very  useful  to  them  as  individual  Christians 
and  as  workers  in  the  churches.  The  Negro 
Baptist  Young  People  need  the  same  kind  of 
education  as  their  white  brothers  and  sisters 
are  acquiring.  They  have  the  same  talents, 
the  same  sort  of  religious  duties  to  perform, 
and  they  will  be  benefited  by  the  Christian 
Culture  Courses  and  by  association  together 
in  local  churches,  in  State  conventions,  and  in 
the  great  national  assemblies,  precisely  in  the 
same  manner  as  if  they  were  white.  Twenty- 
46 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

five  years  from  now,  as  things  are  going  at 
present,  it  looks  as  though  there  would  be  as 
many  Negro  Baptists  in  America  as  there  are 
white  Baptists,  in  both  the  North  and  the 
South.  Indeed,  it  will  not  be  surprising  if 
before  the  end  of  the  present  century,  which 
is  now  very  near,  there  will  be  more  than  two 
million  Negro  Baptists.  It  is  very  important, 
therefore,  simply  on  the  ground  of  numbers, 
that  the  young  men  and  young  women  growing 
up  in  these  Baptist  churches  should  be  well 
educated  and  well  trained  for  Christian  service, 
in  order  that  they  may  be  useful  members  of 
society,  and  be  able  to  meet  the  great  respon 
sibilities  that  the  twentieth  century  will  impose 
upon  them. 

If  the  millions  and  millions  of  Negroes  now 
living  in  heathenism  on  the  continent  of  Africa 
are  ever  to  be  reached  by 
the  gospel,  it  looks  as  though  A  Plea 

it  would  have  to  be  done       from  Africa 
by    the    young    men    and 
women  now  growing  up  in  the  Negro  churches 
of  this  country.      What  a  wonderful   thing  it 
would   be  if  during  the  next  hundred   years 
there  could  go  back  to  heathen  Africa  ship 
loads  of  missionaries  to  preach  the  gospel  on 
47 


The  Negro  in  America 

the  Dark  Continent,  instead  of  the  shiploads 
of  poor  slaves  that  were  brought  from  Africa 
to  America  during  the  last  century.  Perhaps 
some  of  the  readers  of  this  book  will  live  to 
see  that  great  event.  Already  there  is  coining 
to  us  from  Africa  an  earnest  plea  for  mission 
aries.  Ethiopia  is  stretching  out  her  hand. 
God  in  his  providence  seems  to  be  preparing 
the  hearts  of  the  Africans  for  the  reception  of 
the  gospel,  and  is  also  apparently  preparing  in 
this  country  hosts  of  young  men  and  women 
who  will  be  glad  to  go  and  give  it  to  those  who 
are  sitting  in  darkness. 

Our  fathers  snatched  the  unwilling  Negro 
captives  away  from  their  native  land,  their 
kindred,  their  friends,  brought  them  here  and 
sold  them  into  slavery ;  they  and  their  children 
toiled,  not  for  their  own  benefit,  but  for  the 
benefit  of  their  masters ;  they  created  the 
wealth  which  others  enjoyed.  God  in  his 
providence  raised  up  Abraham  Lincoln  to  be 
their  deliverer,  and  through  him  struck  from 
their  limbs  the  shackles  of  bondage.  They 
are  now  free  men  and  free  women,  citizens  of 
the  American  Republic ;  nearly  two  millions 
of  them  are  Baptists,  our  brethren  in  the 
Lord  ;  we  have  a  common  Father  in  heaven, 
48 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

and  they  have  a  right  to  expect  of  us  kindness 
and  help.  When  they  are  educated  and  have 
become  prosperous  they  will  repay  us  for  all 
that  we  do  for  them,  not  perhaps  by  aiding 
us,  but  by  sending  the  gospel  to  Africa,  and 
helping  to  win  for  Christ  in  that  dark  continent 
a  multitude  of  followers,  "whom  no  man  can 
number. ' ' 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  regeneration 
of  Africa  is  to  be  left  entirely  to  the  Negroes 
of  America.  The  white  Christians  of  this 
country  are  under  obligation  to  do  all  in  their 
power  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  mighty 
purpose,  and  they  cannot  shift  the  responsi 
bility  from  their  shoulders  to  those  of  their 
brethren  in  black.  But  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  the  Negroes  are  better  adapted  to  endure 
the  rigors  of  the  climate  and  the  deprivations 
incident  to  missionary  life  in  Africa  than  white 
men  are.  Neither  do  I  wish  to  be  understood 
as  saying  or  implying  that  the  Negroes  should 
content  themselves  with  doing  missionary  work 
among  Negroes.  They  are  debtors  to  all  the 
world  as  well  as  to  Africa. 

Each  generation  has  its  own  great  problems 
to  solve.  The  century  now  nearing  its  end 
has  been  one  of  the  most  notable  of  all  the 
D  49 


The  Negro  in  America 

series  in  the  world's  history;  great  things  have 
been  done  ;  great  progress  has  been  made.    It 

has  been  pre-eminently  a 
Twentieth  Cen-  century  of  scientific  discov- 
tury  Problems  eries,  of  inventions,  and 

of  missions.  Its  crown 
ing  glory  is  the  fact  that  so  much  has  been 
done  for  the  religious  welfare  of  mankind. 
Doubtless  the  twentieth  century  will  in  many 
respects  surpass  the  nineteenth.  The  young 
people  now  coming  upon  the  stage  of  action 
may  look  forward  to  a  most  interesting  career. 
Many  new  and  strange  questions  will  doubtless 
arise,  calling  both  for  profound  thought  and 
vigorous  action.  Happy  they  who  shall  enter 
this  century  well  equipped  to  play  their  part  in 
its  great  activities. 

Without  any  doubt  one  of  the  great  ques 
tions  that  will  insist  upon  solution  during  this 
next  century  will  be  that  of  the  proper  rela 
tion  of  the  Negroes  in  America  with  their 
white  fellow-citizens.  Numbering  now  about 
eight  millions,  during  the  next  century  they 
will  probably  increase  to  seventy-five  or  a  hun 
dred  millions.  They  are  here  to  stay.  They 
will  remain  an  integral  part  of  our  national  life. 
They  will  exert  a  tremendous  influence,  for 
5° 


Slavery  and  Freedom 

good  or  for  evil.  There  is  every  reason  why 
they  should  be  educated  and  Christianized. 
If  the  white  people  do  not  lift  the  black  people 
up,  the  black  people  will  pull  the  white  people 
down.  It  is  manifestly  to  the  interest  of  the 
white  people  themselves  to  do  everything  pos 
sible  to  foster  education  and  Christianity  among 
the  Negroes,  and  to  prepare  the  rising  genera 
tion  not  only  to  become  self-supporting,  but 
to  become  efficient  factors  in  promoting  the 
common  welfare  of  the  nation. 


II 

NEGROES    IN    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

AT  the  outbreak  of  the  war  between  the 
Northern  and  Southern  States,  in  1861,  there 
were  in  the  country,  approximately,  four  mil 
lion  slaves.  During  the  conflict  nearly  two 
hundred  thousand  Negroes  were  enrolled  in 
the  United  States'  army,  comparatively  few  of 
.whom  were  enlisted  from  among  the  free  Ne 
groes  of  the  North.  The  great  mass  of  them 
were  slaves  from  the  Southern  plantations. 
The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  consider  this 
fact  in  its  relation  to  the  present  and  probable 
status  of  the  race  in  this  country. 

The  great  body  of  citizens  in  the  North  who 
sympathized  with  the  purpose  of  President  Lin 
coln  to  suppress  the  rebellion  were  actuated, 
primarily,  by  love  for  the  Union  and  a  deter 
mination  to  preserve  its  integrity  at  any  cost. 
Patriotism  was  the  battlecry  of  the  hour. 
Among  those  who  rallied  to  the  support  of  the 
government  in  its  hour  of  need  were  many 
52 


Negroes  in  the  Civil  War 

Abolitionists  who  disliked  slavery,  who  saw  in 
the  Civil  War  a  possible  means  of  its  destruc 
tion,  and  rejoiced  at  the  prospect.  It  is  safe  to 
say,  however,  that  these  were  largely  in  the 
minority.  The  greater  portion  of  the  army 
was  either  indifferent  to  slavery  or  was  in  full 
sympathy  with  President  Lincoln's  purpose  to 
save  the  Union  with  slavery  if  he  could,  with 
out  it  if  he  must.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
war,  many  of  the  Union  soldiers  were  quick  to 
resent  the  taunt  sometimes  hurled  at  them  that 
they  were  "fighting  to  free  the  Nigger." 

When  the  armies  moved  South  they  came 
immediately  into  contact  with  the  slaves, 
multitudes  of  whom  flocked  within  the  Union 
lines  asking  for  service,  protection,  and  sup 
port.  For  the  most  part  they  were  a  motley 
crew,  many  being  in  rags,  and  while  some  found 
employment,  the  most  were  herded  together 
and  supplied  with  the  bare  necessaries  of  life. 

When  the  question  was  first  broached  of  en 
listing  Negro  soldiers  there  was  a  very  strong 
prejudice  against  it  among 
both  officers  and  men.    The    The  Great  Debate 
general  opinion  seemed  to 
be   that  slaves  were  disqualified  for  efficient 
service  as  soldiers  by  reason  of  their  ignorance 
53 


The  Negro  in  America 

and  the  servile  spirit  begotten  by  bondage. 
They  could  not  be  expected  to  be  brave,  it 
was  said,  especially  when  brought  face  to  face 
with  their  former  masters  whom  they  had  been 
taught  to  respect,  reverence,  and  obey.  The 
introduction  of  any  considerable  number  of 
such  recruits  was  almost  universally  regarded  as 
an  experiment  full  of  hazard,  and  to  be  tried 
only  as  a  last  resort.  Among  the  private  sol 
diers  the  feeling  prevailed  that  it  would  be  dis 
graceful  to  have  Negro  slaves  enlisted  and  put 
into  the  army  on  the  same  footing  as  them 
selves,  and  murmurs  of  discontent  at  the  prop 
osition  and  threats  of  desertion  if  it  were  car 
ried  out  were  frequently  heard.  Besides  this, 
there  was  also  a  strong  objection  to  arming  the 
slaves  and  using  them  as  soldiers  to  fight  their 
old  masters  on  the  ground  that  it  savored  a 
little  of  dishonor  ;  and,  further,  that  it  would 
necessarily  intensify  the  bitterness  of  the  South 
ern  soldiers  and  people  against  the  Union 
army  and  the  North. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  among  the  officers 
and  soldiers  who  favored  their  enlistment  argued 
that  one  of  the  probable  results  of  the  war  was 
to  be  the  destruction  of  slavery,  that  conse 
quently  the  slaves  had  more  at  stake  than  any 
54 


Negroes  in  the  Civil  War 

other  class  of  persons,  and  hence,  that  they 
should  share  the  burden  of  the  war  and  aid  in 
the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  Then  too, 
if  they  were  to  be  free,  their  experience  as  sol 
diers  would  prepare  them  for  freedom  as  no 
other  experience  possibly  could.  Few  people 
in  the  history  of  the  world  have  ever  gained 
their  freedom  except  by  fighting.  It  was  also 
urged  that  they  were  essentially  imitative  and 
obedient,  that  they  were  fond  of  dress  and  of 
show,  and  would  be  particularly  susceptible  as 
soldiers  to  the  "pomp,  parade,  and  glorious 
circumstance  of  war."  The  certainty  of  their 
severe  treatment  if  captured  in  battle  would  be 
an  added  stimulus  to  desperate  courage.  The 
fact  that  thousands  of  them  were  serving  as 
officers'  servants  had  indirectly  proved  a  won 
derful  preparation  for  service  as  soldiers,  for, 
although  non-combatants,  they  had  learned 
much  by  observation  of  the  duties,  trials,  and 
dangers  of  army  life.  As  the  war  progressed 
and  the  destruction  of  human  life  became  more 
and  more  serious,  there  were  not  a  few  who 
sympathized  with  Miles  O'Reily's  sentiment 
that  "The  right  to  be  kilPt  he'd  divide  with 
the  Naygur,  and  give  him  the  bigger  half." 
As  it  was  often  tersely  put  by  the  soldiers,  "a 
55 


The  Negro  in  America 

black  man  would  stop  a  rebel  bullet  just  as  well 
as  a  white  man,"  and  at  length  the  opinion  of 
the  army  came  to  be  that  Negro  soldiers,  or 
ganized  and  disciplined,  could  at  least  perform, 
as  has  been  said,  invaluable  service  in  the  con 
struction  of  fortifications  and  the  guarding  of 
forts,  thus  liberating  for  service  in  the  field  an 
equal  number  of  veteran  white  troops. 

In  due  time  the  enlistment  of  colored  troops 
was  fully  decided  upon  by  the  government ; 
camps  were  established  and  the  work  of  organ 
ization  began.  The  policy  was  adopted  of 
selecting  from  the  Negroes  themselves  all  non 
commissioned  officers,  while  commissioning  as 
field  and  line  officers  only  white  men,  to  be 
selected  chiefly  from  officers  and  soldiers  who 
had  already  seen  service.  The  general  princi 
ple  was  followed  of  selecting  officers  for  col 
ored  troops  by  competitive  examination,  and 
this  resulted  in  securing  for  the  most  part 
men  who  were  well  qualified  for  their  work. 
Unhappily,  as  might  be  expected,  some  who 
were  actuated  chiefly  by  personal  ambition 
found  their  way  into  official  positions  in  this 
service — as  a  certain  colonel  of  my  acquain 
tance  expressed  it,  he  ' '  cared  nothing  for  the 
'niggers,'  except  for  the  army  rank  they  en- 

56 


c 

I 


Negroes  in  the  Civil  War 


abled  him  to  attain."  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
his  success  as  a  commanding  officer  of  Negro 
troops  was  not  brilliant. 

I  entered  the  colored  service  in  October, 
1863,  having  been  promoted,  after  examina 
tion,  from  first  lieutenant,  in  the  Seventieth 
Indiana  Regiment  commanded  by  Colonel 
Benjamin  Harrison,  to  the  rank  of  major  in  the 
Fourteenth  United  States  Colored  Infantry.  I 
organized  the  regiment  and  became  its  col 
onel  ;  organized  also  the  Forty-second  and 
Forty-fourth  Regiments  of  United  States  Col 
ored  Infantry  ;  commanded  at  different  times 
more  than  five  thousand  Negro  troops  ;  was 
with  them  in  battle  at  Dalton,  Ga.  ;  Decatur, 
Ala.  ;  Franklin  and  Nashville,  Tenn.  At  the 
last  named  place  it  was  my  privilege  to  open 
the  great  battle  with  a  brigade  of  Negro  troops 
and  a  brigade  of  white  troops,  constituting  a 
provisional  division.  My  superior  officer  was 
Gen.  James  B.  Steadman,  who  was  in  com 
mand  of  the  left  wing  of  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  commanded  by  Gen.  George  H. 
Thomas.  I  thus  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
a  good  deal  of  service,  and  making  a  pretty 
careful  study  of  Negro  soldiers  under  very 
favorable  circumstances. 
57 


The  Negro  in  America 

Among   so   large    a    number    of  troops,   so 
widely  scattered  over  such  a  broad  theatre  of 

military  operations,    under 

Characteristics  of  ,  .  ,          .    , 

Negro  Troops       circumstances  whlch  varied 

so     greatly,     there    would 

necessarily  be  wide  differences  among  Negro 
troops,  as  there  would  be  among  white  troops, 
and  any  general  statements  are  true — subject  to 
qualifications.  Very  much  depended,  neces 
sarily,  upon  the  courage  and  general  character 
of  the  white  officers  who  were  appointed  to 
drill,  discipline,  and  lead  them.  As  the  war 
closed  in  April,  1865,  there  was  not  time 
enough  to  settle  definitely  and  permanently  the 
question  of  their  soldierly  qualities.  The  gen 
eral  ignorance  which  prevailed  among  them, 
very  few  being  able  to  either  read  or  write, 
militated  very  much  against  their  highest  effi 
ciency.  The  contrast  between  the  average  in 
telligence  of  many  of  the  white  regiments  of 
the  Union  army — recruited  from  the  best  men 
of  the  North — farmers'  sons,  clerks,  school 
teachers,  and  thrifty  business  men — and  a  regi 
ment  made  up  of  Negroes  just  out  of  bondage, 
was  very  striking.  The  high  character  of  the 
men  composing  the  Union  army  is  well  known. 
No  less  than  six  of  its  officers  have  been  presi- 

53 


Negroes  in  the  Civil  War 

dents  of  the  United  States,  scores  of  them 
have  been  senators  and  governors,  and  large 
numbers  have  filled  other  high  official  stations. 
The  private  soldiers  have  been  found  in  all  the 
honorable  walks  of  life — civil  and  political, 
commercial,  educational,  and  religious.  No 
such  body  of  intelligent  men  was  ever  before 
enrolled  in  an  army,  and  its  effectiveness  was 
due  largely  to  the  high  average  of  its  intelli 
gence,  as  was  the  superiority  of  the  German 
army  over  the  French  army  in  their  late  war. 
While  the  cardinal  virtue  of  the  soldier  is  obedi 
ence,  every  experienced  army  officer  well 
knows  that  the  greater  the  intelligence  among 
private  soldiers,  the  greater  their  efficiency  in 
actual  war.  Among  the  liberated  slaves  who 
were  enlisted  as  soldiers  there  were  numbers 
of  stalwart  men,  some  of  them  mixed  bloods 
who  had  enjoyed  exceptional  advantages,  and 
who  possessed  a  fair  degree  of  general  intelli 
gence.  Many  of  these  men,  after  preliminary 
instruction  and  training,  rendered  efficient  serv 
ice  as  sergeants,  and  acquired  considerable  skill 
as  drill-masters. 

In  very  many  of  the  colored  regiments  schools 
of  instruction  were  established  for  giving  the 
soldiers  the  elements  of  an  English  education  ; 
59 


The  Negro  in  America 

large  numbers  of  them  availed  themselves 
most  eagerly  of  the  privilege  of  learning  to  read 
and  write.  They  showed  themselves  apt  in  ac 
quiring  a  knowledge  of  tactics,  and  some  of 
them  came  to  use  their  arms  with  exceptional 
skill.  Gen.  George  H.  Thomas,  a  graduate  of 
West  Point,  and  an  experienced  soldier,  said 
of  the  Fourteenth  United  States  Colored  In 
fantry,  that  it  handled  its  arms  better  than  any 
other  regiment  he  had  ever  seen.  The  cour 
age  of  Negro  soldiers  was  vindicated  and  thor 
oughly  established  on  many  a  battlefield.  I 
had  a  somewhat  wide  and  varied  experience  in 
the  army,  was  in  several  heavy  engagements, 
commanded  both  white  and  black  troops,  and 
now,  as  I  look  back  upon  it,  after  a  third  of  a 
century,  I  am  somewhat  in  doubt  as  to  which 
class  of  troops,  white  or  black,  I  should  give 
preference  for  courage.  The  blacks  were  per 
haps  more  dependent  upon  their  officers  than 
white  troops  were  ;  possibly  possessed  less  of 
sustained  courage  under  trying  circumstances, 
but  they  endured  pain  with  wonderful  fortitude, 
and  were  capable  of  romantic  heroism,  such 
as  they  exhibited  at  Petersburg.  The  fact  that 
several  regiments  of  Negro  troops  were  incor 
porated  into  the  regular  army,  where  they  have 
60 


Negroes  in  the  Civil  War 

been  continued  ever  since  the  war,  is  pretty 
conclusive  evidence  that  they  possess  soldierly 
qualities. 

The  near  and  remote  consequences  resulting 
from  their  enlistment  in  the  Union  army  were 

many  and  important.     One 

.    ^        Results  of  Negro 
of  the  most  obvious  is  that         EnHstment 

it  gave  employment  to 
nearly  two  hundred  thousand  able-bodied  men 
who  had  been  thrown  out  of  their  former  serv 
ice  by  the  progress  of  the  war  and  had,  as  yet, 
found  no  place  of  independent  labor.  In  ad 
dition  to  giving  them  something  to  do,  it  af 
forded  food,  clothing,  protection,  and  wages, 
which  many  of  them  used  either  in  the  support 
of  their  families  or  in  the  assistance  of  relatives 
or  friends  who  were  partially  dependent  upon 
them,  and  it  was  vastly  better  that  they  should 
earn  this  help  from  the  government  than  that 
they  should  receive  it  as  a  gratuity.  It  further 
served  to  greatly  stimulate  a  healthful  self- 
respect.  They  are  not  wanting  in  natural  pride 
and  ambition,  which  even  in  slavery  was  a  spur 
to  success  and  a  solace  in  sorrow.  The  ten 
dency  of  slavery,  however,  was  to  degrade 
them,  or,  at  least  to  keep  them  degraded  ;  to 
stifle  the  natural  craving  after  recognition  of 
61 


The  Negro  in  America 

their  manhood  and  the  rewards  that  follow  such 
recognition.  Slavery  begets  cringing,  fawning 
cowardice.  They  entertained  exaggerated  no 
tions  of  the  dignity  of  soldiers,  and  looked  upon 
the  Union  army  as  a  heroic  band  of  conquering 
heroes  with  whom  it  would  be  an  honor  to  serve, 
even  in  the  humblest  capacity.  When  they 
came  to  be  enlisted  as  soldiers  and  to  serve  as 
a  part  of  the  great  army  of  liberation,  to  wear 
a  soldier's  uniform,  to  carry  a  musket  and  be 
addressed  as  "  men  "  and  treated  with  respect, 
they  felt  that  the  "  year  of  jubilee  "  had  indeed 
come.  When  they  had  participated  in  hot  en 
gagements,  such  as  those  at  Nashville,  Peters 
burg,  and  Port  Hudson,  acquitting  themselves 
valiantly  and  winning  the  praise  of  their  officers 
and  the  encomium  of  white  soldiers,  they  real 
ized,  not  in  its  full  significance,  perhaps,  but 
partially  at  least,  that  they  had  crossed  the 
great  gulf  which  separates  between  chattels  and 
men.  They  had  vindicated  their  manhood  by 
the  test  which  all  the  world  has  for  centuries 
recognized  as  a  severe  one,  the  test  of  courage 
in  battle. 

It  is  to  be  recorded  to  the  credit  of  the 
Negro    soldiers    that    the    instances  were  rare 
when  they  abused  their  powers.     They  "pick- 
62 


Negroes  in  the  Civil  War 

eted  "  the  lines  through  which  Southern  citi 
zens  passed  and  treated  them  courteously. 
They  often  guarded  the  property  and  families 
of  Southern  soldiers.  They  captured  Confed 
erates  and  held  them  as  prisoners  without 
injury  or  insult. 

The  increase  in  the  Negroes'  self-respect 
was  surpassed  by  the  increase  of  respect  ex 
tended  them  by  others.  I 

f  ^  Removal  of 

have  already  spoken  of  the         p    .    .. 

strong  prejudice  existing  at 
first  against  their  enlistment  as  soldiers,  and 
the  sort  of  contempt  with  which  they  were 
looked  upon,  and  it  was  my  lot  to  witness  a 
revolution  in  the  public  sentiment  of  the  army 
in  this  particular.  My  regiment  had  a  beauti 
ful  camp  on  the  slope  of  the  ridge  near  the 
Tennessee  River,  under  the  shadow  of  Look 
out  Mountain,  in  Chattanooga,  Tenn.  The 
camp  was  laid  out  with  great  regularity,  was 
kept  scrupulously  clean  •  the  men  were  well 
clothed  and  finely  drilled  ;  and  when  they  ap 
peared  upon  dress  parade  with  their  shoes 
blacked,  their  belts  polished,  their  arms  glis 
tening,  their  clothes  well  brushed,  with  their 
white  gloves,  and  went  through  their  manual 
of  arms  with  great  precision,  promptness,  and 
63 


The  Negro  in  America 

enthusiasm,  marching  by  companies  from  the 
parade  ground  under  the  command  of  Negro 
sergeants,  they  presented  a  most  impressive 
spectacle.  Tens  of  thousands  of  soldiers  and 
citizens  gathered  to  witness  their  parades, 
among  them  being  a  large  portion  of  Sherman's 
army  on  its  march  to  Atlanta.  It  was  an 
object-lesson  whose  significance  was  striking, 
eloquent,  and  instantaneously  effective,  help 
ing  to  rapidly  change  the  sentiment  of  that 
whole  Western  army  regarding  Negro  troops. 
The  most  common  expression  to  be  heard 
among  the  visitors  after  witnessing  a  parade 
was,  " Those  men  will  fight." 

A  signal  instance  of  the  prejudice  which  at 
first  existed  against  Negro  soldiers  occurred  at 
Nashville  in  the  fall  of  1863.  At  a  public  re 
ception  given  by  General  Ward,  an  officer  of  a 
Negro  regiment  meeting  an  acquaintance,  the 
lieutenant-colonel  of  an  Ohio  regiment,  offered 
him  his  hand,  which  the  latter  declined,  remark 
ing  as  he  turned  away,  that  he  "did  not  re 
cognize  Negro  officers."  When  the  matter 
reached  the  ears  of  Lorenzo  Thomas,  adjutant- 
general  of  the  army,  the  offending  officer  was 
promptly  dismissed  from  the  service. 

Our  first  engagement  was  at  Dalton  in  Au- 
64 


Negroes  in  the  Civil  War 

gust,  1864,  when  we  had  a  sharp  little  contest 
with  Wheeler's1  cavalry.  The  Fifty-first  In 
diana  Infantry  fought  on 
our  flank,  and  was  so  im-  A  First  Fight 
pressed  with  the  coolness 
and  gallantry  of  my  men  that  ever  after  that, 
by  way  of  pleasantry  and  of  compliment  to 
the  Negro  soldiers,  it  was  very  common  for  its 
members  when  asked  the  usual  question  pro 
pounded  by  passing  troops,  ' '  What  regiment  ? ' ' 
to  reply,  "Fifty-first  Colored. "  After  my  sol 
diers  had  charged  and  taken  a  battery  at  De- 
catur,  Ala.,  in  October,  1864,  and  had  shown 
great  gallantry  the  following  day  under  fire, 
they  received  an  ovation  from  the  white  troops, 
who  by  thousands  sprang  upon  the  parapets  and 
cheered  the  regiment  as  it  re-entered  the  lines. 
The  colonel  of  the  Sixty-eighth  Indiana  In 
fantry  asked  from  General  Granger  as  a  special 
privilege  for  his  regiment,  that  it  might  be 
brigaded  with  mine,  giving  as  a  reason  that  his 
soldiers  had  such  respect  for  the  Fourteenth 
Colored  that  they  wanted  to  fight  side  by  side 
with  it. 

1  What  a  comment  on  the  changes  of  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  that  this  same  General  Wheeler  commanded 
a  division  in  the  American  army  that  captured  Santiago. 
E  65 


The  Negro  in  America 

Gen.  George  H.  Thomas,  a  Virginian,  and 
a  man  of  great  conservatism,  was  deeply  in 
terested  in  the  work  of  organizing  and  dis 
ciplining  Negro  troops,  frequently  visiting  my 
camp,  inspecting  the  quarters,  talking  with  me 
and  conversing  freely  with  the  Negro  soldiers. 
He  once  asked  me  if  I  thought  they  would 
fight,  to  which  I  of  course  replied  :  ' '  Yes, 
general,  they  will."  He  said  slowly  :  "Well, 
I  think  they  would  fight  behind  breastworks. ' ' 
And  when  I  replied  to  this  that  I  would  prove 
that  they  would  fight  in  the  open  field,  if  he 
would  give  me  a  chance,  he  answered  quickly : 
"  I  will  give  you  that  chance."  At  the  battle 
of  Nashville,  in  the  final  charge  on  Overton's 
Hill,  which  pierced  the  enemy's  line  and  pre 
cipitated  his  flight,  black  troops  and  white 
troops  fought  and  fell  side  by  side.  As  Gen 
eral  Thomas  and  staff  rode  over  the  field  after 
the  battle  and  looked  upon  the  fallen  black 
soldiers  he  said  to  his  officers  :  "The  question 
is  settled  ;  Negro  soldiers  will  fight. ' '  From 
that  day  on  they  had  no  firmer  friend  than  he. 

The   addition  of  the   Negro   contingent   to 

the  Union  army  was  immediately  apparent  in 

increasing  its  strength  and   effectiveness.      In 

the  early  part  of  October,  1863,  I  began  the 

66 


Negroes  in  the  Civil  War 

organization  of  the  fourteenth  regiment  at 
Gallatin,  Tenn.,  and  before  the  enlistments 
were  completed  or  any  company  organizations 
effected,  I  was  called  upon  by  the  command 
ing  officer  of  the  Post,  Gen.  E.  A.  Payne,  to 
do  picket  duty.  During  the  entire  time  oc 
cupied  in  the  organization  of  the  first  six  com 
panies  of  the  regiment  we  performed  regular 
military  duty,  and  as  soon  as  the  companies 
were  fully  organized,  and  before  they  had  time 
for  proper  drill  or  discipline,  we  were  ordered 
to  Chattanooga,  where  the  men  were  employed 
in  the  erection  of  fortifications  and  other  serv 
ice  which  had  previously  been  performed  by 
white  soldiers.  What  was  true  of  my  regiment 
was  true  in  large  part  of  the  entire  force  of 
Negro  troops  ;  every  man  of  them  counted 
one  as  an  additional  element  of  strength  in  the 
army.  Not  only  did  those  actually  enrolled 
add  their  strength  to  the  force  in  the  field,  but 
the  fact  that  they  would  make  good  soldiers, 
and  that  a  very  large  number  of  them  were 
available  for  that  service,  became  at  once  an 
element  of  encouragement  to  the  North  in  its 
stupendous  work  of  putting  down  the  rebellion. 
As  the  war  proceeded  it  became  more  and 
more  difficult  to  fill  the  ranks  depleted  by 
67 


The  Negro  in  America 

death,  wounds,  and  disease,  and  there  was  a 
great  public  sense  of  relief  and  hope  when  this 
new  source  of  supply  was  brought  prominently 
forward. 

While  the  addition  of  nearly  two  hundred 
thousand  soldiers  to  the  Union  army  was  an 

immense  factor  of  strength, 

Two  Hundred       encouragement,   and    hope 

Thousand  Soldiers  for  the    North,   it  was    no 

less  a  factor  of  discourage 
ment  to  the  South.  The  one  great  weakness 
of  the  Southern  States  in  their  effort  to  sep 
arate  themselves  from  the  Union  was  the  lack 
of  men.  It  was  said  of  them  that  to  recruit 
their  armies  they  had  robbed  both  the  cradle 
and  the  grave — that  is,  that  they  had  enlisted 
both  very  young  and  very  old  men.  The  far- 
sighted  among  them  early  appreciated  the  im 
mense  advantage  which  the  North  had  in  the 
mere  force  of  numbers.  When  the  experi 
ment  of  organizing  Negro  troops  had  proven 
successful,  the  Southern  people  saw  at  once  the 
full  significance  of  this,  since  it  took  from  their 
very  homes  the  able-bodied,  stalwart  slaves, 
upon  whom  rested  chiefly  the  burden  of  rais 
ing  the  crops  which  were  to  supply  their  armies, 
and  converted  them  into  an  engine  of  destruc- 
68 


Negroes  in  the  Civil  War 

tion  in  the  hands  of  their  opponents.  That 
the  Negro  contingent  therefore  exerted  a  pro 
found  influence  in  determining  the  ultimate 
issues  of  the  war,  and  hastened  the  overthrow 
of  the  Confederacy,  no  one  can  doubt. 

When  it  was  over  it  was  recognized  by  com 
mon  consent  that  the  Negroes  had  been  an 
influential  factor  in  preserving  the  integrity  of 
the  Union,  and  there  was  at  once  a  spontaneous 
recognition  of  their  right  and  claim  to  honor 
able  and  generous  treatment.  This  was  one 
of  the  great  factors  that  led  to  their  enfranchise 
ment.  In  Congress  and  out  it  was  argued 
that,  as  the  States  were  to  come  back  into  the 
Union  with  their  autonomy  unimpaired,  and 
that  those  who  had  been  for  nearly  four  years 
actively  engaged  in  an  effort  to  destroy  it  were 
to  be  re-invested  with  all  the  rights  and  privil 
eges  of  American  citizenship,  it  seemed  only 
just  and  fitting  that  the  Negroes,  who  had 
fought  so  courageously  to  preserve  the  Union, 
should  share  in  these  privileges.  It  was  said 
also,  with  justice,  that  their  latter  condition 
might  very  naturally  be  worse  than  their  first, 
if  all  the  rights  of  citizenship  were  restored  to 
their  former  masters  while  they  were  withheld 
from  them.  As  they  had  fought  against  their 
69 


The  Negro  in  America 

masters  on  many  a  battlefield,  and  had  thrown 
their  immense  weight  in  favor  of  the  Union 
and  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Confederacy,  it 
was  only  natural  to  suppose  that  the  white 
people,  restored  to  their  political  power,  would 
be  swift  to  visit  upon  their  former  slaves  and 
late  antagonists  severe  retribution.  So  it  came 
about  that  Negro  soldiers  were  the  precursors 
of  Negro  citizens.  It  is  not  at  all  certain  that 
they  would  have  been  enfranchised  if  they  had 
not  first  been  enlisted  ;  indeed,  if  after  enlist 
ment,  their  services  as  soldiers  had  been  dis 
creditable,  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  suffrage 
would  have  been  withheld  from  them. 

Whatever  opinion  may  be  cherished  regard 
ing  the  wisdom  of  conferring  the  right  of  suf 
frage  upon  the  vast  body  of  lately  emancipated 
slaves,  it  must  be  conceded  that  enfranchise 
ment  marks  an  epoch  in  the  evolution  of  the 
American  Negro.  He  has  retained  the  ballot 
until  the  present  time,  and  there  is  no  likeli 
hood  that  it  will  ever  be  taken  from  him. 

One  of  the  immediate  results  of  enfranchise 
ment,  and  consequently  one  of  the  remoter 
results  of  enlistment  as  soldiers,  was  the  edu 
cation  of  the  Negroes.  The  need  of  educa 
tion  for  a  free  people  had  become  an  established 
70 


Negroes  in  the  Civil  War 

truism  in  the  American  mind.  If  therefore 
the  Negroes  were  to  be  free  men,  indeed, 
citizens  of  the  Republic,  vested  with  the  power 
of  the  ballot,  they  too  must  be  educated. 
This  perhaps,  quite  as  much  as  any  other  mo 
tive,  if  not  the  most  powerful  of  all,  has  aided 
in  establishing  in  the  South,  by  Northern 
Christian  philanthropy,  large  schools  for  the 
education  of  leaders  among  the  colored  people. 
It  has  also  been  influential  in  the  creation 
through  the  South  of  the  public  school  system, 
in  whose  advantages  they  participate. 

Looking  back  upon  this  question  of  Negro 
soldiers  after  the  lapse  of  a  generation,  I  confess 
to  a  little  feeling  of  disap 
pointment  in  its  effect  upon  Resume 
them  as  a  race.      It  is  quite 
possible  that  I  expected  too  much  ;  it  may  also 
be  true  that  I  do  not  as  yet  fully  appreciate  the 
ultimate  influence  of  this  single  factor  in  their 
development.     We  have  to  remember  that  the 
four  millions  of  slaves  have  grown  to  be  more 
than  eight  millions  of  freemen  ;  that  as  a  race 
they  are  not  students  of  history,   and  hence 
have  not  been  so  profoundly  influenced  by  the 
Negro    army  of   liberation,   as    the   American 
people  in  general  have  been  influenced  by  the 


The  Negro  In  America 

Revolutionary  army,  and  that  they  are  essen 
tially  a  peaceable,  docile,  trusting,  dependent 
race,  not  warlike,  nor  revengeful. 

It  is  still  further  to  be  considered,  in  making 
an  estimate  of  a  historical  fact  such  as  that  under 
consideration,  that  two  hundred  thousand 
black  soldiers,  although  a  large  number  in  it 
self  was  really  a  very  small  number  compared 
with  the  vast  Union  army  of  which  it  formed 
a  part,  and  that  they  were  officered  by  white 
men,  who  have  received,  possibly,  more  than 
their  share  of  the  credit  attaching  to  the  good 
conduct  of  the  regiments  which  they  com 
manded  and  led.  The  officers  and  soldiers  of 
the  Union  army  have  been  a  dominating  in 
fluence  for  a  generation.  The  Loyal  Legion 
and  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  have 
been  factors  of  tremendous  significance  in  the 
life  of  the  nation.  The  national  capital 
abounds  in  military  statues,  and  expensive 
monuments  have  been  erected  there  and  in 
many  other  places  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  those  who  gave  their  lives  for  their  country. 
The  Negro  soldiers  have  had  no  great  organ 
ization  ;  no  monuments  have  been  erected  to 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  fallen  heroes,  and 
the  influence  that  has  been  exerted  upon  the 
72 


Negroes  in  the  Civil  War 

development  of  the  race  by  those  who  fought 
during  the  Civil  War  has  been  incidental,  in 
direct,  and  comparatively  insignificant.  This 
may  be  accounted  for  largely  by  the  circum 
stances  of  the  case  :  the  Negro  soldiers  were 
illiterate,  while  thousands  of  the  white  men 
who  enlisted  in  the  Union  army  were  graduates 
of  colleges  and  universities,  or  were  men  who 
had  already  achieved  distinction  in  civil  life  ; 
the  Negro  soldiers  were  poor  ;  were  ignorant 
of  the  power  of  organization,  and  on  their  re 
tirement  from  the  army  dropped  back  into  ob 
scurity.  The  real  heroes  and  leaders  of  the 
colored  people  have  been  not  their  soldiers, 
but  those  who  have  been  trained  for  leadership 
and  usefulness  in  the  schools  established  for 
them  since  the  war. 

Then  too  it  is  perhaps  fortunate,  on  the 
whole,  and  in  keeping  with  the  divine  purpose, 
that  the  development  of  the  Negroes  should 
be  along  industrial,  educational,  and  religious 
lines,  rather  than  as  a  military  or  warlike 
people.  Their  future  seems  to  be  inseparably 
blended  with  that  of  the  white  people  by 
whom  they  are  surrounded,  and  an  independ 
ent  career  such  as  they  might  have  if  they  oc 
cupied  a  country  of  their  own  is  impossible 
73 


The  Negro  in  America 

under  existing  circumstances.  While  the  suc 
cess  of  the  experiment  of  Negro  soldiers  has 
had,  as  has  been  indicated,  a  marked  and 
beneficial  influence  upon  the  subsequent  his 
tory  of  their  people,  it  has  not  developed  in 
them  the  military  instinct,  but  has  fitted  them 
for  more  complete  absorption  and  assimilation 
into  our  national  life,  as  citizens  of  the  great 
republic. 

NOTE. — Since  the  above  was  written,  Negro  soldiers 
have  achieved  great  distinction  in  battle  at  Santiago, 
Cuba.  As  a  reward  for  gallantry  the  President  has 
promoted  a  half-dozen  enlisted  men  and  made  them 
lieutenants.  The  Eighth  Illinois  Infantry,  now  in  Cuba, 
has  only  Negro  officers  from  colonel  down. 


74 


Ill 

EDUCATION    OF    THE    NEGROES 

A  CHARACTERISTIC  of  the  American  people 
is  their  love  for  education.  Fostered  by  public 
sentiment,  there  has  grown  up  a  magnificent 
system  of  schools,  maintained  by  taxation,  at 
an  annual  expense  exceeding  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  of  dollars  which,  including  kinder 
gartens  for  the  very  young,  primary,  interme 
diate,  and  grammar  schools,  high  schools,  nor 
mal  schools,  and  State  universities,  is  being 
slowly  perfected  and  is  contributing  very  largely 
toward  the  education  of  the  masses  of  the  peo 
ple.  It  is  only  a  question  of  time  when,  chiefly) 
through  its  agency,  the  average  popular  intelli 
gence  in  America  will  be  higher  than  that  ofl 
any  other  country  in  the  world.  This  magnifi 
cent  system  is  supplemented  by  great  religious 
institutions  and  by  technical  and  special  schools 
founded  and  endowed  by  public-spirited  phi 
lanthropists. 

It  is  not  invidious  to  say  that  the  system  has 
75 


The  Negro  in  America 

reached  a  degree  of  efficiency  in  the  North 
that  is  wholly  unknown  in  the  South,  which  is 
easily  explained,  chiefly  by  the  fact  that  it  was 
not  established  in  the  South  until  after  the  close 
of  the  Civil  War,  1865.  It  is  also  notably  true 
that  most  of  the  great  universities  and  colleges 
of  the  country,  such  as  Harvard,  Brown,  Yale, 
Chicago,  Amherst,  Williams,  Cornell,  Roches 
ter  ;  by  far  the  greater  number  of  theological 
schools,  Andover,  Newton,  Union,  Princeton, 
Rochester,  Chicago ;  and  almost  all  of  the 
great  technical  schools,  are  found  in  the 
Northern  States.  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
at  Baltimore,  is  hardly  an  exception,  since 
Baltimore  is  quite  as  much  a  Northern  as  a 
Southern  city.  The  great  publishing  houses 
are  in  the  North,  so  also  are  the  most  pros 
perous,  widely  circulated,  and  influential 
newspapers.  It  would  be  very  surprising, 
therefore,  if  it  should  be  maintained  that  the 
South  is  in  any  respect  on  the  same  line  with 
the  North  in  matters  of  education. 

These  facts  are  stated  simply  with  a  view  of 
showing  their  bearing  upon  the  question  of  the 
education  of  the  Negroes.  While  they  were 
held  in  bondage  and  treated  as  chattels,  they 
were,  by  the  very  necessity  of  the  system  of 
76 


Education  of  the  Negroes 

slavery,  deprived  of  any  educational  advantages 
whatever,  except  those  which  came  incidentally 

by  reason  of  their  intimate 

.•          .u  4-u  •       u  .         The  Pall  of 

association  with  their  white  01 

Slavery 

masters  and  overseers. 
They  were  taught  to  work,  became  somewhat 
skilled  in  the  lower  forms  of  industrial  occupa 
tion,  and  acquired  habits  of  industry,  enforced 
by  the  lash,  which  have  been  of  incalculable 
service  to  them.  Here  and  there  one  by 
stealth  learned  to  read  and  write,  but  the  great 
mass  of  them  could  do  neither,  and  were  kept 
in  the  grossest  kind  of  ignorance.  In  many  of 
the  Southern  States  it  was  made  a  crime  to 
teach  a  slave  his  letters.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  when  the  exigencies  of  the  war 
liberated  four  millions  of  slaves,  made  them  free 
men,  and  cast  them  upon  their  own  individual 
resources,  they  should  enter  into  the  competi 
tive  struggle  of  life  sadly  handicapped. 

Even  their  preachers,  in  most  cases,  were 
grossly  ignorant,  unable  to  read  a  word  of  the 
Bible  which  they  were  attempting  to  expound, 
and  there  existed  among  them  no  class  of  men 
who  had  any  proper  conception  or  any  suitable 
preparation  for  intelligent  leadership.  Behind 
the  emancipated  Negroes,  set  free  by  the  proc- 
77 


The  Negro  in  America 

lamation  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  there  stretched 
a  dark  and  dismal  bondage  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  unillumined  by  any  except  the  most 
feeble  rays  of  light.  As  they  emerged  from 
this  dense  darkness  of  ignorance,  superstition, 
and  petty  vices,  they  were  dazed  and  terrorized 
by  the  new  responsibilities  of  freedom  so  sud 
denly  thrust  upon  them.  The  war  had  made 
them  free,  with  little  or  no  preparation  for  free 
dom  ;  the  Constitution  conferred  upon  them 
citizenship,  while  as  yet  they  had  had  no  train 
ing  for  it  and  no  instruction  as  to  what  it  meant. 
Separated  by  their  color  and  by  the  prejudice 
against  them,  born  of  slavery,  they  withdrew 
from  the  white  congregations,  organized 
churches  of  their  own,  and  installed  as  pastors 
men  untrained,  uneducated,  inexperienced, 
and  incompetent.  Thrust  into  political  life 
with  no  knowledge  of  civics,  no  training  or  ex 
perience  in  public  affairs,  they  blindly  followed 
the  lead  either  of  designing  white  men  or  of 
untrained  and  incompetent  black  men,  and  fell, 
very  naturally,  into  many  a  foolish  and  hurtful 
act. 

Those  great  steps  by  which,  in  the  onward 
march  of  human  events,  there  has  been  con 
ceded  to  the  Negro  in  America  his  freedom, 
78 


Education  of  the  Negroes 

his  citizenship,  his  manhood,  his  equality  be 
fore  the  law,  can  never  be  retraced.  The  edict 
of  emancipation  is  as  ir- 
revocable  as  is  the  Dec-  No 
laration  of  Independence. 
The  rights  of  full  citizenship,  including  suffrage, 
once  conferred  upon  a  whole  race  of  several 
millions  can  never  be  wholly  withdrawn.  It 
may  be  abridged,  modified  temporarily,  ren 
dered  inoperative,  but  permanently  withdrawn 
or  overthrown — never. 

A  nation  can  no  more  escape  the  conse 
quences  of  its  own  action  than  can  the  indi 
vidual  :  "Whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall 
he  also  reap. ' '  The  people  of  America  have 
established  upon  this  continent  a  republic,  a 
government  of  the  people,  having  as  its  corner 
stone  the  equality  of  man,  and  the  sacred  right 
of  the  majority  to  rule.  They  have  by  per 
suasions,  entreaties,  and  by  prodigal  bestow- 
ment  of  rewards,  financial,  social,  political, 
peopled  the  North  with  millions  from  Europe, 
and  by  force  and  fraud  populated  the  South 
with  millions  from  Africa.  Upon  all  these 
people  alike  they  have  conferred  the  inalien 
able  and  priceless  boon  of  American  citizen 
ship.  They  have  incorporated  all  alike  into 
79 


The  Negro  in  America 

its  body  politic,  into  its  national  life.  These 
hosts  are  no  longer  separate  peoples — Swedes, 
English,  Irish,  French,  Germans,  Africans — 
they  are  Americans. 

The  rising  generation  of  colored  children, 
for  whose  education  we  are  concerned,  are 
"native  and  to  the  manner  born"  ;  sons  of 
freedom  who  have  never  known  bondage  ; 
born  into  the  inherited  rights  of  American  citi 
zenship  ;  thousands  of  them  having  a  just  pride 
in  their  ancestral  history,  speaking  a  common 
language  with  us,  professing  a  common  Christi 
anity  ;  thoroughly  American  in  spirit,  habits, 
tastes,  hopes,  and  aspirations.  They  are  not 
aliens,  foreigners,  strangers.  They  are  part  of 
ourselves.  Politically  they  are  "bone  of  our 
bone  and  flesh  of  our  flesh."  We  must  recog 
nize  this  tremendous  fact  of  vital  political  re 
lationship  which  we  ourselves  have  created,  and 
cannot  by  any  possibility  unmake. 

We  may  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact,  but  the 
fact  remains ;  we  may  attempt  to  ignore  it,  but 
it  will  not  be  ignored  ;  we  may  repent  the  his 
tory  that  established  it,  but  repentance  does 
not  in  the  very  slightest  degree  modify  the 
fact.  The  colored  branch  has  been  ingrafted 
into  the  national  stock  so  that  the  very  life- 
80 


Education  of  the  Negroes 

blood  of  the  republic  flows  through  its  veins. 
It  is  impossible  now  to  sever  the  branch  with 
out  not  only  marring  the  symmetry,  but  also 
endangering  the  very  life  of  the  national  stock. 
The  question  of  the  education  of  the  Negroes 
as  a  preparation  for  citizenship,  thus  thrust 
upon  the  public  attention, 
demanded  careful  thought  p  *\  * 
and  prompt  and  radical 
treatment.  From  the  nature  of  the  case,  they 
themselves  were  utterly  incapable  of  grappling 
with  the  problem  ;  the  Southern  white  people 
could  not  be  expected  to  throw  to  the  winds 
all  their  traditions  and  preconceptions,  admit 
at  once  their  former  slaves  into  political  fellow 
ship,  recognizing  them  as  fellow-citizens  en 
titled,  like  themselves,  to  all  the  rights  of  citi 
zenship,  and  especially  to  that  education  with 
out  which  they  could  neither  appreciate  the 
privileges,  nor  meet  the  responsibilities  of  their 
changed  status.  That  the  Negroes  have  shown 
as  much  interest  in  the  cause  of  education  as 
they  have,  that  they  have  been  as  receptive 
and  appreciative  of  the  efforts  made  in  their 
behalf  by  others,  and  that  they  have  made  the 
progress  they  have  made,  is  a  matter  for  con 
gratulation.  That  the  Southern  people — former 
F  81 


The  Negro  in  America 

slaveholders,  overwhelmingly  defeated  in  their 
endeavors  to  dissolve  the  Union  and  establish 
a  confederacy  founded  on  slavery — should 
accept  the  situation  with  as  much  grace  as  they 
have  and  should  be  willing  to  accord  to  their 
slaves,  torn  from  them  by  war,  a  recognition  of 
their  rights  as  freemen,  and  that  they  should 
provide  for  them  even  a  rudimentary  system  of 
schools  maintained  by  public  taxation,  the 
chief  burden  of  which  must  necessarily  fall  upon 
themselves,  is  creditable  to  their  strong  Anglo- 
Saxon  sense. 

It  is,  however,  true  that  the  credit  for  estab 
lishing  public  schools  in  the  South  is  due  chiefly 
to  Northern  men  who,  during  the  period  of  re 
construction,  secured  in  the  South  political 
pre-eminence  ;  and  it  is  especially  noteworthy 
that  the  most  influential  schools  for  the  Negroes, 
those  which  have  been  the  greatest  factors  in 
promoting  their  education,  were  established  by 
Northern  benevolence.  The  North,  in  addi 
tion  to  grappling  with  its  own  serious  problem, 
has  shown  a  willingness  to  lend  a  helping  hand 
to  the  South  and,  because  it  believes  profoundly 
in  education,  has  made  large  contributions  for 
the  establishing  of  schools  for  the  training  of 
Negro  citizens.  For  this  purpose  the  Friends 
82 


Education  of  the  Negroes 

have  given  one  million  dollars  ;  the  Presbyte 
rians,  one  million,  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou 
sand  ;  the  Baptists,  over  three  million ;  the 
Methodists,  six  million  ;  the  Congregational- 
ists,  twelve  million.  Besides  this,  Mr.  Slater 
contributed  one  million,  and  private  individ 
uals  and  churches  not  named  have  added 
largely  to  the  amount.  Shaw  University,  at 
Raleigh,  N.  C.  ;  Richmond  Theological  Semi 
nary  ;  Spelman  Seminary,  Atlanta  University, 
at  Atlanta,  Ga.  •  Roger  Williams  and  Fisk 
Universities,  at  Nashville,  Tenn.  ;  Leland  and 
Straight  Universities,  at  New  Orleans,  La.  ; 
Bishop  College,  at  Marshall,  Texas,  and  similar 
schools,  have  done  for  Negro  education  since 
the  war  what  Harvard,  Yale,  Dartmouth,  and 
other  institutions,  wrought  in  the  early  history 
of  education  in  the  North. 

The  present  status  of  Negro  education,  while 
encouraging,  and  possibly  creditable  in  greater 
or  less  degree  to  all  parties 

concerned-to    the   South-       The  Resent 

Status 

ern   whites,    the    Northern 

philanthropists,  and  the  Negroes  themselves — 
has  in  it,  nevertheless,  elements  that  call  for 
very  serious  consideration.  The  Negroes  now 
number  not  less  than  eight  millions,  seven  mil- 

83 


The  Negro  in  America 

lions  of  whom  are  in  the  South  ;  in  some  of 
the  States,  notably  South  Carolina  and  Missis 
sippi,  they  outnumber  the  whites ;  and  in  all, 
their  numbers  are  so  great  that  they  must,  of 
necessity,  exert  a  very  marked  influence  upon  X 
Southern  life,  character,  and  progress.  Under 
the  improving  conditions,  it  is  reasonable  to 
expect  that  their  natural  increase  will  be  cer 
tainly  as  great  in  the  future  as  in  the  past.  - 
Their  number  has  doubled  within  a  period  of 
thirty  years,  and  it  is  probable  that  it  will 
double  again  within  the  next  thirty,  possibly 
within  twenty-five  years.  Travelers  in  the 
South  are  impressed  with  the  large  families 
which  everywhere  appear  among  them. 

We  must  recognize  the  great  fact  that  they 
are   here  to  stay,    and  to  rapidly  increase  in 

number.      Any  scheme  for 
They  are  Here     theif  forced   colonization 
to  Stay 

would  be  a  wrong  second 

only  to  that  of  slavery  itself.  Humanity  would 
cry  out  against  it.  A  scheme  of  voluntary  ex 
patriation  is  chimerical.  We  may  anticipate 
the  emigration  of  all  the  sons  of  Israel  from 
America  to  Palestine  much  sooner  than  that  of 
the  sons  of  Ham  to  Africa.  Missionaries  and 
teachers  in  increasing  numbers  will  doubtless 
84 


Education  of  the  Negroes 

go  from  this  favored  land  to  carry  the  gospel  of 
knowledge  and  salvation  to  their  countrymen 
in  Africa,  and  traders  and  adventurers  will  fol 
low.  Colonies  may  be  planted  there,  and  a 
century  hence  thousands  may  overflow  from 
our  fast-filling  territory  to  the  more  attractive 
portions  of  Africa.  But  the  movement  of  col 
ored  people  is  far  more  likely  to  be  in  the  di 
rection  of  Texas,  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  lower 
California,  and  even  Alaska,  than  toward 
Africa.  They  have  been  transplanted  to  Amer 
ican  soil  and  are  as  thoroughly  American  in 
tastes,  habits,  spirit,  as  any  other  element  of 
our  population.  They  are  no  more  Africans 
than  we  are  Europeans.  They  are  an  inde 
structible  part  of  our  nationality. 

From  whatever  point  of  view  we  contemplate 
this  great  and  increasing  mass  of  human  beings, 

whether  simply  as  so  many 

.          An  Urgent  Need 

men  and  women,  with  hu 
man  instincts,  tastes,  temptations,  and  possi 
bilities  ;  whether  as  masses  of  humanity,  exert 
ing,  of  necessity,  a  tremendous  influence  upon 
the  social,  religious,  industrial,  and  commer 
cial  life  of  the  entire  South  ;  whether  as  Ameri 
can  citizens,  wielding  the  dreaded  power  of  the 
ballot  and  having,  by  reason  of  their  numbers, 

85 


The  Negro  in  America 

accentuated  by  the  doctrine  of  majority  rule, 
the  right  to  control  the  political  destiny  of  en 
tire  communities,  counties,  districts,  and  States; 
or  whether  as  a  vast  body  of  professedly  Chris 
tian  people,  Protestant  almost  entirely,  develop 
ing  a  religious  life  among  themselves,  and 
necessarily  modifying  that  of  those  about  them  ; 
or  as  an  important  constituent  element  of  our 
national  life,  destined  to  overthrow  some  of 
our  most  cherished  political  theories  unless 
they  can  be  assimilated  and  rendered  thoroughly 
homogeneous — from-  whatever  point  of  view 
we  contemplate  them,  the  question  of  their 
education  is  seen  to  be  full  of  urgency. 

Whatever  reasons  can  be  advanced  for  the 
education  of  any  class  of  men,   can  be  with 

reference  to  the  education 
Diversified  c   .,  .  , 

Schools  °f  thlS    Pe°Ple;    whatever 

can  be  urged  for  a  perfected 
public  school  system  for  the  white  children  of 
the  North,  has  equal  significance  in  behalf 
of  a  perfected  public  school  system  for  the 
Negro  children  of  the  South.  There  is  no 
argument  for  the  endowment  and  equipment 
of  great  institutions  of  learning,  colleges,  the 
ological  seminaries,  technical  schools,  for  the 
favored  white  children  of  the  North,  that 
86 


Education  of  the  Negroes 

would  not  have  probably  equal  weight  in 
behalf  of  establishing  similar  institutions  for 
the  black  children  of  the  South  : — Kinder 
gartens  for  the  little  ones,  to  awaken  and 
train  their  senses,  develop  their  consciences, 
and  start  them  in  a  career  of  quickening 
growth  and  development ;  elementary  schools, 
to  give  them  the  mastery  of  the  instruments 
of  learning — reading,  writing,  spelling,  arith 
metic — and  to  bring  them  into  touch  with 
the  educational  forces  of  the  day ;  indus 
trial  education,  to  fit  them  to  earn  an  hon 
est  living,  and  especially  to  show  them  the 
vast  possibilities  of  improved  and  diversified 
industries  that  lie  everywhere  about  them  in 
the  as  yet  undeveloped  sunny  Southland  ; 
business  schools,  to  fit  them  for  the  ordinary 
pursuits  of  commercial  life  ;  normal  schools, 
to  provide  for  them  competent  teachers  capable 
of  training  those  committed  to  their  care,  ac 
cording  to  philosophical  principles  and  modern 
approved  methods  ;  colleges,  to  furnish  them 
with  an  all-around  intellectual  development, 
to  open  to  them  vistas  into  untrodden  fields  of 
learning,  to  fit  them  for  independent  investiga 
tion,  to  arouse  within  them  consciousness  of 
power,  and  to  awaken  aspirations  after  worthy 
8? 


The  Negro  in  America 

achievements  and  conquests  in  all  the  varied 
departments  of  mental  activity ;  professional 
schools — medical,  legal,  and  theological,  to 
train  a  body  of  men  competent  for  the  im 
portant  duties  and  responsibilities  that  rest 
upon  the  pastor,  the  physician,  and  the  legal 
adviser ;  technical  schools,  to  develop  among 
them  architects,  artists,  engineers,  master- 
mechanics,  superintendents  of  mines,  over 
seers  of  mills,  and  men  capable  of  leading 
their  people  in  the  fierce  competition  that 
must  grow  in  intensity  as  the  resources  of  the 
South  are  developed,  and  as  the  expected  im 
migration  from  the  North  increases  in  volume. 
If  the  question  is  raised,  what  sort  of  schools 
are  required  for  them  ?  we  answer,  schools 

modeled  after  those  of  like 
Culture  is  ,  ,  ,.  ,     ,  r        ,  .^ 

~  .     .  grade  established  for  white 

Colorless 

people.  There  are  required 
the  same  qualifications  in  the  teachers,  the 
same  text-books,  the  same  course  of  study, 
the  same  kinds  of  discipline  that  are  found 
in  similar  institutions.  There  seems  to  be 
no  point  in  the  equipment  or  general  man 
agement  of  these  institutions  where  they  can 
diverge  safely  from  those  which  the  history 
of  education  has  shown  to  be  most  desirable 
88 


Education  of  the  Negroes 

and  best  adapted  to  their  purpose.  The 
grounds,  buildings,  furniture,  libraries,  text 
books,  apparatus,  endowments  of  a  Negro 
school  in  Georgia,  do  not  differ  in  any  re 
spect  from  the  equipment  of  a  similar  insti 
tution  for  a  white  school  in  Massachusetts. 

The  fundamental  endowments  of  the  human 
mind — the  five  senses  of  sight,  touch,  taste, 
smell,  and  hearing  j  the  memory,  imagination, 
and  the  reasoning  powers ;  the  desire  for 
wealth,  power,  knowledge  ;  the  conscience — 
are  essentially  the  same  in  every  human  being ; 
they  are  the  constituent  elements  of  the  soul ; 
they  belong  in  common  to  Negroes  and  to 
Caucasians. 

The  chief  aim  of  culture  is  the  development 
of  these  fundamental  faculties.  Education 
aims  to  evolve  power,  capacity.  The  law  of 
development  of  the  senses,  the  desires,  the 
reasoning  powers,  or  the  moral  nature,  are  the 
same  for  all  races.  They  all  grow  by  use  ; 
they  are  trained  by  exercise  ;  are  called  into 
activity  by  methods  and  means  which  are  alike 
for  all. 

The  principal  agent  for  the  unfolding  of 
mental  power  is  knowledge — knowledge  of 
language,  science,  philosophy,  mathematics, 


The  Negro  in  America 

history,  etc.  Knowledge  is  one.  Mathe 
matics  knows  nothing  of  race,  color,  or  con 
dition  ;  philosophy  and  history  are  utterly  in 
different  to  the  color  of  the  skin  of  the  student 
who  consults  them  ;  the  spelling  book,  the 
dictionary,  and  the  encyclopaedia  tell  the  same 
story  to  every  class  of  inquirers.  There  is  not 
one  multiplication  table  for  the  whites  and 
another  for  the  blacks  ;  the  Ten  Command 
ments  were  not  published  for  one  fragment  of 
the  human  race. 

The  chief  outcome  of  culture  is  character  ; 
self-respect;  love  of  the  true,  the  beautiful, 
and  the  good  ;  firmness  of  will ;  sensitiveness 
of  conscience  ;  refinement  of  taste.  Character 
is  a  quality  of  the  soul  and  independent  of  the 
physical  features.  Indians,  Negroes,  half- 
breeds,  whites,  are  alike  amenable  to  the  im 
mutable  laws  by  which  men  are  judged,  and 
require,  in  their  process  of  preparation  to  meet 
these  demands,  the  same  course  of  training. 

In  this  country  the  destiny  of  men  and 
women  is  not  determined  by  any  fixed  lines  ; 
more  and  more  there  is  public  recognition  of 
talent,  preparation,  fitness,  merit.  Breadth 
of  opportunity  should  have  a  corresponding 
breadth  of  preparation.  The  old  chasm  that 
90 


Education  of  the  Negroes 

separated  the  free  and  the  slave  has  been — not 
bridged  over,  but  filled  up  by  the  costly  debris 
of  a  civil  war.  In  the  eye  of  the  law  all 
American  citizens  are  equal ;  preparation  for 
American  citizenship  must  take  this  great  fact 
into  consideration. 

God,  who  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of 
men,  looks  not  upon  the  color  of  the  skin  or 
the  texture  of  the  hair,  but  upon  the  quality 
of  the  soul.  Christian  culture,  which  seeks  to 
fit  men  and  women  for  service  in  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  for  participation  in  the  joys  of 
heaven,  must  build  its  foundations,  not  upon 
the  accident  of  birth,  but  upon  the  indestruct 
ible  image  of  God  which  every  soul  bears 
within  itself.  Heaven  is  not  divided  into 
compartments  ;  it  recognizes  neither  caste  nor 
color. 

The  human  soul  is  God's  masterpiece.  To 
develop  it,  train  it,  awaken  all  its  energies, 
prepare  it  for  the  broadest  sphere  of  useful 
ness  and  the  noblest  plane  of  activity,  is  one 
of  life's  highest  privileges;  the  teacher  is 
God's  co-worker.  The  spirit,  method,  and 
means  of  education  should  correspond  to  the 
dignity  of  the  work  to  be  done. 

How  these  various  institutions  are  to  be  pro- 
9* 


The  Negro  in  America 

vided    is    the   serious,   practical    question  that 
meets  every  man  who  has  any  official  relation 

to  it.      Will    the    Southern 
Who  will          ~ 

Provide  Schools  ?States    aPPreciate    the   im~ 
portance    of   the    situation 

and  tax  themselves  sufficiently  to  maintain  for 
all  the  colored  people  an  adequate,  efficient 
system  of  public  schools  ?  Their  own  self-inter 
est  demands  it,  but  it  is  possible  they  may  not 
recognize  this.  Will  the  Negroes  themselves 
appreciate  the  peril  that  confronts  them,  and 
recognize  that  they  are  at  the  ' '  parting  of  the 
ways,"  where  they  can,  on  the  one  hand,  set 
tle  down  to  a  position  of  hopeless,  indifferent 
degradation  and  contempt,  disgraceful  to  them 
selves,  harmful  to  their  neighbors,  and  possibly 
disastrous  to  free  institutions  and  the  cause  of 
human  liberty ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  where, 
by  self-sacrifice,  persistence,  and  zeal,  they 
may  insist  that  their  children  shall  be  edu 
cated,  that  they  shall  have  an  equipment  for 
life  equal  in  all  respects  to  that  enjoyed  by 
their  white  competitors,  that  they  will  be  satis 
fied  with  nothing  less  than  an  all-around  and 
thorough  training,  and  that  they  will  be  will 
ing  to  pay  the  cost  of  it,  so  far  as  lies  in  their 
power?  Would  they  might  do  so. 
92 


Education  of  the  Negroes 

In  addition  to  paying  taxes  to  maintain 
public  schools,  they  are  doing  what  they  can  to 
establish  and  support  higher 
Christian  schools,  and  are 
showing  a  spirit  of  zeal  and 
sacrifice  to  secure  the  proper  education  of 
their  children  ;  but  they  are  distressingly  poor. 
Their  energies  are,  and  must  be  for  a  long 
time  to  come,  largely  absorbed  in  the  struggle 
for  existence.  To  improve  their  condition  by 
the  purchase  of  property  and  the  erection  of 
homes  will  tax  them  severely.  In  their  present 
condition  it  is  a  great  strain  upon  them  to  meet 
the  current  expenses  of  their  churches  and  pay 
their  taxes.  Those  of  them  who  are  attempt 
ing  to  give  their  children  an  academic  or  col 
legiate  education,  find '  the  cost  very  heavy. 
It  cannot  be  expected  that  a  people,  just 
emerging  from  slavery,  with  its  attendant  bar 
barism,  should  have  any  but  the  most  crude 
ideas  relating  to  education.  They  cannot  be 
expected  to  appreciate  the  incalculable  advan 
tage  to  their  children  of  institutions  of  higher 
learning.  They  are  doing  something,  and  in 
deed  many  of  them  are  making  great  sacrifices 
for  these  institutions,  but  unless  they  can  have 
help,  speedy,  generous  help  from  the  North, 
93 


The  Negro  in  America 

their  efforts  to  secure  for  their  children  the 
education  which  their  circumstances  impera 
tively  demand  must  end  in  failure. 

Will  the  philanthropists  in  the  North  see  in 
the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  clear  indications 

of  the  Providence  of  God 
A  Call  to  ,        ..        ,    ^  .    .       .      , 

Philanthropists  and  reallze  what  1S  mvolved 
for  human  liberty,  for  re 
publican  institutions,  for  Christianity,  for  civil 
ization  itself,  in  the  thorough  education  of  the 
masses  of  Negro  American  citizens  ? 

This  is  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  colored 
people.  They  are  on  trial.  They  have  been 
faithful  servants  in  bondage,  patient  sufferers 
in  tribulation,  brave  soldiers  on  the  battlefield. 
Elevated  suddenly  to  the  exalted  plane  of  free 
dom,  citizenship,  manhood,  will  they  prove 
equal  to  the  demands  of  the  hour?  Are  they 
hopelessly  inferior  to  the  white  race?  Are 
they  fit  only  for  servitude  ?  Are  they  doomed 
to  degradation  ?  Is  all  Africa  to  be  abandoned 
to  barbarism? 

Surely  we  ought  not  to  expect  them  to  vie 
with  their  white  competitors  in  the  great  race 
without  equal  advantages.  For  centuries  we 
have  had  the  accumulated  treasures  of  knowl 
edge,  the  inherited  glories  of  literature,  the 
94 


Education  of  the  Negroes 

inspiration  of  great  leaders  in  science  and 
philosophy,  and  the  invaluable  help  of  count 
less  schools  of  learning. 

We  ask  for  them  what  we  have  had  our 
selves.  Give  them  a  fair  chance ;  open  to 
them  the  school,  the  academy,  the  college, 
the  university ;  call  out  their  latent  talent ; 
give  them  time  for  development  of  great 
preachers,  lawyers,  physicians,  philosophers, 
scientists,  and  statesmen,  as  well  as  captains  of 
industry,  master  workmen,  successful  farmers, 
and  skillful  mechanics.  Africa  has  need  of 
them.  Notwithstanding  the  teeming  millions 
already  there,  there  is  room  for  multitudes  of 
others  from  here  who  will  carry  with  them  the 
seeds  of  a  new  civilization.  Not  in  our  day, 
but  in  the  future,  largely  through  the  instru 
mentality  of  educated  Christian  Negro  Ameri 
cans,  there  is  to  be  doubtless  are  generation  of 
the  Dark  Continent.  It  will  be  a  new  and 
glorious  chapter  in  the  history  of  humanity. 


95 


IV 

THE    HIGHER    EDUCATION    OF    NEGRO    WOMEN 

BEFORE  entering  upon  the  discussion  of  this 
theme  it  may  be  well  to  prepare  the  way  by 
a  few  simple  definitions.  Education  is  a  some 
what  vague  term,  and  may  mean  much  or  little, 
according  to  the  intent  of  him  who  uses  it.  The 
new-born  babe  is  simply  a  bundle  of  possibilities. 
If  normally  constituted,  it  may  develop  a  strong, 
healthy,  vigorous  body,  an  active  mind,  and  a 
sound  moral  and  religious  nature.  Left  to  it 
self  absolutely,  it  will  necessarily  perish,  the 
young  of  the  human  species  being  among  the 
most  helpless  of  God's  creatures  and  the  most 
dependent  upon  parental  care.  If  it  is  pro 
vided  with  food,  raiment,  shelter,  and  asso 
ciation  with  others,  it  will,  in  process  of  time, 
acquire  a  certain  degree  of  physical,  intel 
lectual,  and  moral  development. 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  this  natural  growth 
may  be  called  education.  "We  are  born 
weak,  we  need  strength  ;  we  are  born  destitute 
96 


The  Higher  Education  of  Negro  Women 

of  all  things,  we  need  assistance  ;  we  are  born 
stupid,  we  need  judgment.  All  that  we  have 
not  at  our  birth,  and  that  we  need  when  grown 
up,  is  given  us  by  education."  Ordinarily, 
however,  when  we  use  the  term  education  we 
mean  by  it  that  special  process  of  development 
of  mind  and  body  and  acquisition  of  knowledge 
which  are  the  result  either  of  conscious  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  child  or  of  instruction  and 
training  given  by  others.  When  the  mother 
is  teaching  the  child  to  talk,  she  is  training 
it  in  language  ;  when  she  teaches  it  to  count, 
she  is  educating  it  in  mathematics  ;  when  she 
tells  it  the  names  and  habits  of  the  dooryard 
fowls  or  the  domestic  animals,  she  is  teaching 
it  zoology ;  when  she  teaches  it  the  names  and 
uses  of  its  own  hands,  eyes,  etc. ,  it  is  a  lesson 
in  physiology  ;  when  she  describes  the  flowers 
that  bloom  in  the  garden,  she  is  instructing  it 
in  botany  ;  when  she  takes  it  with  her  on  her 
walks  to  her  neighbors,  and  points  out  to  it 
the  names  and  direction  of  places,  she  is  in 
structing  it  in  geography ;  when  she  points  out 
sun  and  moon  and  stars,  she  is  educating  it  in 
astronomy  •  when  she  reproves  it  for  miscon 
duct,  rewards  it  for  good  behavior,  and  incul 
cates  into  its  young  mind  principles  of  conduct, 
G  97 


The  Negro  in  America 

she  is  instructing  it  in  morals ;  when  she  tells 
it  of  the  great  God  above  us,  and  of  the  love 
of  Christ  for  us,  she  is  training  it  in  theology  ; 
when  she  directs  its  energies  in  useful  ways, 
teaching  it  to  perform  little  acts  of  service 
about  the  house,  she  is  giving  to  it  industrial 
education.  A  child's  first  lessons  in  handling 
the  needle,  sweeping  the  floor,  whittling  a 
stick,  washing  dishes,  chopping  wood,  running 
a  sewing  machine,  comprise  the  rudiments  of 
manual  training.  In  these  rudimentary  and 
homely  efforts  are  found  all  the  elements  in 
volved  in  the  science  and  practice  of  educa 
tion  j  these  are  the  beginnings  of  a  process 
which  differs  only  in  degree,  from  the  time  it 
begins  in  the  mother's  arms  until  it  culminates 
in  the  higher  classes  in  the  university.  It  is  a 
process  of  communicating  knowledge,  impart 
ing  impulses,  directing  energies,  controlling 
activities,  developing  character. 

When  the  child  enters  school  it  passes  from 
one  grade  of  instruction  to  another,  from  the 
acquisition  of  one  class  of  facts  to  that  of 
another  class,  from  informal  to  formal  instruc 
tion  ;  from  isolated  training  to  class  or  asso 
ciated  training ;  from  parental  tuition  to  the 
instruction  and  discipline  of  a  teacher ;  from 
98 


The  Higher  Education  of  Negro  Women 

the  study  of  nature  to  the  study  of  books. 
There  is  no  necessarily  radical  change  either 
of  topics  or  methods  ;  and  it  still  studies  the 
language,  geography,  arithmetic,  botany,  zo 
ology,  etc.,  which  have  already  engaged  its 
attention  in  its  mother's  arms  or  at  her  side. 
Happy  is  the  child  whose  earliest  years  have 
been  blessed  with  careful,  loving,  intelligent, 
parental  training,  and  who  passes  from  the 
home  into  the  school  with  a  desire  for  knowl 
edge  and  with  such  a  foundation  laid  as  will 
enable  it  to  profit  in  the  highest  degree  by  the 
enlarged  advantages  which  the  school  affords. 

It  is  by  no  means  easy  to  draw  a  sharp  line 
through  this  process  of  education  which  shall 

separate  it  into  two  clearly    , 

J     Higher  and  Lower 

discriminated  degrees,  one 

of  which  we  may  call  the  lower  education 
and  the  other  higher  education.  In  the 
sense  of  being  fundamental  and  important, 
it  may  be  said,  paradoxically,  that  the  low 
est  is  the  highest;  and,  since  the  entire  fu 
ture  development  of  the  soul  depends  so 
largely  upon  the  start  the  child  receives  in  its 
earliest  years,  the  greatest  significance  attaches 
to  the  methods  employed  and  the  results  at 
tained  during  the  first  few  years  of  its  life. 
99 


The  Negro  in  America 

The  foundations  of  the  attainments  in  knowl 
edge,  discipline,  and  power  are  laid  while  the 
child  is  still  young,  and  before  it  has  entered 
upon  that  which  we  commonly  call  the  higher 
studies.  For  the  purposes  of  convenience,  we 
are  accustomed  to  apply  the  term  ' '  secondary ' ' 
education  to  all  those  processes  and  results 
characteristic  of  education  prior  to  the  student' s 
entering  upon  a  full  college  course  of  study  ; 
by  higher  education  we  usually  mean  that  which 
is  comprised  within  a  college  or  university 
course.  When  the  question  is  asked,  Shall 
women  have  a  higher  education  ?  we  generally 
mean  by  it,  Shall  they  go  to  college  and  shall 
they  pursue  university  studies  ?  Higher  edu 
cation  simply  means  better  education,  better 
mental  discipline,  a  stronger  grasp  of  funda 
mental  principles,  a  broader  outlook,  a  clearer 
judgment,  a  firmer  will ;  more  knowledge, 
more  power,  a  nobler  character. 

It  is  now  well-nigh  universally  conceded  by 
all  who  are  interested  in  and  acquainted  with 
the  present  condition  of  the  colored  people, 
that  the  girls  and  young  women  ought  to  have 
a  common-school  education.  That  is,  that 
they  should  be  able  to  read  the  English  lan 
guage  with  fluency  and  intelligence,  to  spell 


The  Higher  Education  of  Negro  Women 

correctly,  to  write  legibly  and  with  a  fair  degree 
of  facility,  so  as  to  express  themselves  intelli 
gibly;  that  they  should  be  acquainted  with 
the  principles  of  arithmetic,  know  something 
of  geography  and  history,  and  have,  at  least, 
a  rudimentary  knowledge  of  physiology,  bot 
any,  chemistry,  and  physics.  There  is  no  dif 
ference  of  opinion  either  regarding  the  desira 
bility  of  their  special  training  in  the  perform 
ance  of  household  duties,  or  their  preparation 
for  the  responsible  position  of  trained  nurses, 
or  in  such  other  lines  of  industrial  acquire 
ments  as  will  fit  them  to  earn  an  independent 
livelihood.  It  is  also  generally  conceded  that 
the  time  has  now  come  when  the  average  at 
tainment  among  the  colored  women  calls  for  a 
much  more  thorough  training  and  a  higher  de 
gree  of  culture  than  was  called  for  ten  years 
ago.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  this  secondary 
or  academic  work  is  a  high  education  ;  that  is, 
it  is  higher  or  more  advanced  than  has  been 
given  heretofore.  But  this  is  not  the  higher 
education  for  which  I  now  plead. 

In  my  judgment  it  is  wise  that  the  oppor 
tunity   should    be    afforded    to    these    young 
women    to    pursue   college   studies,   to    secure 
those   advantages   of  higher    education   which 
101 


The  Negro  in  America 

are  offered  to  white   girls  in  the  best   organ 
ized  colleges  and  universities  in  the  country. 

White    women    are    now 
Shall  Negro        fred      admitted     not    onl 
Women  Go  to          0    .,,    ,,,  n  ,T 

College  ?  Smith,  Wellesley,  Vassar, 

and  other  women's  colleges, 
where  the  curriculum  of  study  is  as  high,  as 
thorough,  as  in  men's  colleges  of  the  same 
grade,  but  they  are  likewise  admitted  on  terms 
of  intellectual  equality  to  the  classes  in  many 
of  the  best  equipped  colleges  and  universities 
of  the  country,  such  as  Michigan  and  Chicago 
Universities.  Without  going  into  an  elaborate 
discussion  of  the  subject,  I  will  instance  three 
reasons,  somewhat  comprehensive,  which  to 
my  mind  are  conclusive  arguments  for  offering 
to  the  young  Negro  women  of  the  present 
day  the  opportunities  for  acquiring  this  higher 
education. 

i.   The    first   is   because   they  are    women. 
The  worthiest  conceivable  outcome  of  educa 
tion  is  the  development  of 

A  Completed       .,  .       „, 

Womanhood       the  SOul      Educatlon  Pr°P- 
erly   conducted   results    in 

training  all  the  powers   to   their  greatest  and 

healthiest    activity.      The    educated    person  is 

he  who  is  able   to  make  the  best  use  of  his 

102 


The  Higher  Education  of  Negro  Women 

powers  of  observation,  in  the  acquisition,  at 
first  hand,  of  elementary  knowledge  of  nature  ; 
the  educated  eye  sees,  the  educated  ear  hears, 
the  educated  palate  tastes,  the  educated  nose 
smells,  and  the  educated  hand  touches  as  the 
uneducated  cannot,  and  thus  makes  it  possible 
for  the  educated  soul  to  enjoy  a  boundless 
range  of  rich  experiences  to  which  the  unedu 
cated  soul  is  a  stranger.  All  the  glories  of  the 
oratorio  are  in  germ  in  training  of  the  ear,  and 
all  the  boundless  pleasures  of  form  and  color, 
architecture,  painting,  sculpture,  landscape, 
are  patent  to  the  eye  trained  to  see  them  ; 
likewise  the  reasoning  powers,  analysis,  com 
parison,  inference,  judgment,  reach  their 
grandest  development  only  through  the  pro 
cess  of  education.  Man  is  a  rational  animal ; 
reasoning  is  one  of  his  distinctive  characteris 
tics  ;  he  fulfills  his  position  in  the  scale  of  be 
ing  in  proportion  as  he  is  in  full  possession  of 
his  reasoning  faculties  ;  whatever  promotes  the 
development  of  his  mental  powers  adds  to  his 
happiness  and  his  dignity ;  the  same  is  true  in 
a  certain  degree  of  the  development  of  his 
memory,  his  imagination,  his  power  of  expres 
sion,  and  also  of  his  moral  nature.  The  glory 
of  the  elm  tree  is  in  the  strength  of  its  trunk 
103 


The  Negro  in  America 

and  its  wide-spreading,  graceful  branches ;  it 
does  not  attain  its  true  dignity  until  it  is  fully 
grown.  The  glory  of  the  human  soul  is  in  the 
full  stature  and  vigor  of  all  its  powers ;  so  long 
as  any  of  these  are  undeveloped,  it  falls  short 
of  its  true  dignity.  Education  is  the  process  by 
which  these  powers  are  developed,  and  higher 
education  is  simply  the  higher  degree  of  activ 
ity,  exercise,  growth,  attainment,  develop 
ment.  The  fact  that  an  elm  tree  is  an  elm 
tree  entitles  it  to  whatever  of  soil,  sunshine, 
and  opportunity  will  secure  for  it  the  complet- 
est  unfolding  of  all  the  possibilities  of  its  nature 
which,  lie  wrapped  up  in  the  tiny  seed.  So 
too,  the  fact  that  a  colored  woman  is  a  wroman, 
made  in  the  image  of  God,  bearing  his  like 
ness,  capable  of  high  attainments,  is  a  suffi 
cient  reason  why  she  should  have  the  oppor 
tunity,  at  least,  of  bringing  her  powers  to 
their  normal  unfolding. 

A  generation  ago  the  colored  women  of  the 
South  were  slaves,  chattels,  without  person 
ality  ;  to-day  they  are  free,  and  in  the  enjoy 
ment  of  many  of  the  privileges  of  liberty. 
They  are  recognized  as  women,  who,  by  virtue 
of  their  womanhood,  are  entitled  to  the  pro 
tection  of  the  laws  and  the  shield  of  public 
104 


The  Higher  Education  of  Negro  Women 

opinion.  By  the  slow  process  of  education 
there  is  being  evolved  among  them  a  class  of 
women  having  enlarged  capacity  for  culture,  a 
truer  self-consciousness,  a  keener  sensitiveness, 
purer  and  loftier  aspirations,  and  greater  possi 
bilities  of  achievement,  a  new  and  improved 
type  of  womanhood,  destined  by  their  influence 
upon  their  race  to  mark  a  new  era  in  its  his 
tory. 

The  noblest  thing  in  nature  is  man.  The 
noblest  thing  in  man  is  mind.  The  highest 
attainments  of  mind  are  conditioned  on  educa 
tion.  There  is  no  sex  in  culture.  The  mind 
is  the  woman,  and  soul  culture  is  woman's 
birthright  because  she  is  a  woman. 

He  that  made  us  with  such  large  discourse, 
Looking  before  and  after,  gave  us  not 
That  capability  and  godlike  reason 
To  rust  in  us  unused. 

2.  I  urge  as  a  subordinate  reason  why  col 
ored  women  should  have  the  opportunity  of 

higher  education,   the  fact 

The  ResponsibiU 
that  m  most  cases  they  are    .^  Qf  wifehood 

to  be  wives.      The  home  is 
at  once  the  humblest,    the   highest,   and   the 
holiest  place  on   earth.      It  is   there   that  we 
I05 


The  Negro  in  America 

come  into  the  most  intimate  relations  with  each 
other.  It  is  there  that  character  is  most  se 
verely  tested  ;  it  is  there  that  the  experiences 
of  life  are  most  concentrated  ;  it  is  there  that 
character  is  most  fully  developed  ;  and  it  is 
there  where  is  heard  the  loudest  and  most  im 
perious  call  for  all  the  help  that  knowledge, 
training,  and  experience  can  render.  A  happy 
home,  where  order,  intelligence,  thrift,  and 
love  reign,  is  a  miniature  heaven  on  earth.  In 
such  an  atmosphere  men  and  women  enjoy  to 
gether  the  sweetest  experiences  of  living,  are 
refreshed,  strengthened,  and  equipped  for  the 
burdens,  toils,  and  conflicts  of  life.  The 
happy  home  takes  from  life's  disappointments 
and  sorrows  their  keenest  sting,  and  gives  to 
existence  its  truest  and  holiest  significance. 

The  home  is  what  the  wife  makes  it.  She 
reigns  there  as  sovereign  ;  its  atmosphere  is  a 
reflection  of  her  own  mind.  If  she  is  a  woman 
of  intelligence,  taste,  tact,  resources,  character, 
she  can  make  the  rudest  cabin  seem  a  palace 
and  the  humblest  home  an  Eden.  All  her  de 
fects  in  mental  and  moral  equipment  will  ex 
press  themselves  in  some  bitter  fashion  in  the 
daily  life  of  the  home.  How  dependent  upon 
the  wife  the  husband  is  none  know  so  well 
106 


The  Higher  Education  of  Negro  Women 

as  he  who  has  been  blessed  with  one  whose 
higher  education  has  fitted  her  for  the  noble 
functions  of  her  position. 

It  hardly  need  to  be  said  that  the  children 
carry  through  all  subsequent  life  the  impress 

made  upon   them   in  their 

The  Mother's 

earliest  years  by  the  mother.  . 

It  is  her  molding  and  guid 
ing  hand  which,  more  than  any  other  agency, 
shapes  their  destiny.  Their  future  is  in  her 
keeping.  If  she  herself  has  enjoyed  the  ad 
vantages  of  a  liberal  education,  and  has  ac 
quired  thereby  that  knowledge,  skill,  self-dis 
cipline,  power  of  directive  energy,  high  ideals 
of  life,  and  practical  common  sense  that  ought 
to  come  from  college  training,  she  will  be  able 
out  of  the  fullness  of  her  own  life  to  impart  to 
her  children  such  impulses,  principles,  meth 
ods,  tastes,  and  habits,  as  will  secure  for  them 
a  larger  place  in  life's  enjoyments  and  duties 
than  they  otherwise  could  possibly  occupy.  If 
we  desire  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  race, 
purify  our  homes,  renovate  society,  promote 
the  highest  public  welfare,  impart  new  energy 
and  fidelity  to  the  church,  and  to  secure  the 
best  results  to  human  civilization,  we  must  seek 
to  promote  the  education  of  the  wives  and 
107 


The  Negro  in  America 

mothers.      If  the  reservoir   is    sweet,   all    the 
faucets  in  the  city  will  send  forth  pure  water. 

3.   A  third  reason  for  the  higher  education 
of  colored  women  is,  that  such  education  fits 

them  for  work.      Life  is  ac- 
Preparation  for     .  ., 

Work  tivity ;   we  are  called  upon 

to  labor  ;  none  are  exempt. 
Colored  women  are  no  exception  to  the  rule. 
They  are  born  neither  to  leisure  nor  to  laziness, 
but  because  they  are  women,  and  especially 
because  they  are  colored  women,  perhaps,  they 
are  called  to  a  life  of  service.  Not  all  of  them 
are  to  be  servants,  as  we  commonly  use  that 
term,  and  spend  their  days  in  the  kitchen,  the 
laundry,  and  the  nursery ;  but  even  if  this 
were  the  case,  higher  education  would  be  very 
helpful  to  them  in  this  sphere  of  life. 

The  suffering,  the  annoyances,  the  losses  of 
time,  to  say  nothing  of  the  diseases  and  death 
occasioned  by  unintelligent  service  in  our 
homes  would  be  appalling  if  merely  stated. 
There  is  a  science  of  housekeeping  and  a 
philosophy  of  cooking,  and  our  homes  will 
never  be  what  they  ought  to  be  until  our 
cooks  are  philosophers  and  our  housekeepers 
are  scientists. 

There  is  among  the  colored  people,  both  in 
108 


The  Higher  Education  of  Negro  Women 

America  and  in  Africa,  a  wide-open  door  for 
the  highest  sort  of  missionary  service,  which 
can  be  rendered  most  effectively  by  colored 
women  of  strong  character  and  liberal  culture. 
Such  women  will  have  an  influence  upon  the 
home  life,  the  religious  culture  and  activities 
of  the  colored  people,  limited  only  by  their  fit 
ness  for  their  work.  A  thousand  such  women, 
distributed  throughout  the  churches  of  the 
South,  would  slowly  but  surely  lift  the  general 
average  of  piety,  morality,  intelligence,  and 
character  of  the  whole  mass. 

But   passing    now    to    the  wide    domain  of 
teaching,  where  so  many  colored  women  will 

find  their  life-work,  we  are 

Teaching 

confronted  at  once  with  the 

fact  that  we  are  committing  to  them,  in  a 
very  large  measure,  the  destiny  of  the  Afro- 
Americans  of  this  country.  The  eight  mil 
lions  of  that  race  are  destined,  within  an 
other  century,  to  become  probably  not  less 
than  fifty  millions,  and  to  exert  an  enormous 
influence  in  the  development  of  our  national 
life.  The  vast  multitudes  of  their  children 
will  receive  what  education  they  get  almost  ex 
clusively  at  the  hands  of  colored  women  school 
teachers.  The  stream  can  rise  no  higher  than 
109 


The  Negro  in  America 

its  source  ;  if  these  women  are  ignorant  and 
unqualified,  the  schools  which  they  teach  will 
be  of  low  grade,  and  the  instruction  which 
they  impart  and  the  characteristics  they  develop 
will  be  accordingly  dwarfed  and  unsymmetrical. 
Heretofore  the  efforts  of  philanthropists  and 
statesmen  who  have  taken  cognizance  of  this 
need  for  competent  colored  teachers,  have  been 
directed  chiefly  toward  providing  them  with  a 
rudimentary  normal  training  which  has  con 
sisted  to  a  very  large  degree,  in  giving  them  a 
common  school  education.  It  has  been  rightly 
estimated  that  in  order  to  teach  the  Three  R's 
the  colored  women  need  themselves  to  be 
taught,  and  very  little  has  been  attempted  be 
yond  the  simplest  forms  of  instruction.  We 
are  now  entering  upon  a  second  stage  of  this 
process  of  preparing  school  teachers,  by  giving 
them  the  elements  of  pedagogical  training ; 
they  are  taught  something  of  psychology,  some 
thing  of  school  management,  something  of  the 
history  of  education,  a  little  of  the  philosophy 
of  teaching.  This  professional  work  is  yet  in 
its  earliest  stages,  and  will  require  some  years 
for  its  complete  evolution.  That  there  is  the 
same  necessity  for  strictly  professional,  normal 
school  education  among  the  colored  people  of 
no 


The  Higher  Education  of  Negro  Women 

the  South  that  there  is  among  the  white  people 
of  the  North,  where  so  much  has  been  done  in 
this  direction,  hardly  needs  argument. 

Within  a  comparatively  few  years  great 
progress  has  been  made  in  public  sentiment  as 
to  the  need  of  a  college  training  as  the  basis 
for  normal  professional  training.  Accuracy  of 
information  in  the  common  school  branches, 
breadth  of  general  knowledge,  maturity  of 
mind,  discipline  of  mental  power,  and  that  in 
describable  something  which  we  call  culture, 
are  recognized  as  being,  if  not  absolutely  essen 
tial  to  him  who  would  make  the  most  of  a 
normal  school  course,  as  at  least  giving  to  the 
normal  school  graduate  a  preparation  for  a 
grade  of  work  entirely  beyond  the  reach  of 
those  who  have  been  denied  the  privilege  of 
college  education.  Teaching  is  one  of  the 
most  exalted  and  dignified  among  human  voca 
tions.  It  is  the  privilege  of  the  teacher  to  de 
velop  character,  and  he  does  this  largely  by 
imparting  to  the  pupil  something  of  his  own 
inner  life.  The  higher  and  the  richer  his  life, 
the  more  inexhaustible  his  own  resources,  the 
greater  and  grander  will  be  the  results  of  his 
work. 

It  is  not  extravagant  to  say  that  there  is  a 
in 


The  Negro  in  America 

present  demand,  far  outrunning  the  supply,  for 
college -bred  women  as  teachers  in  the  colored 
schools,  public  and  private.  Unless  this  want 
can  be  supplied,  these  schools  will  lack  the  vi 
tality,  vigor,  and  virtue  so  essential  to  their 
highest  success.  No  work  for  the  colored 
people  exceeds  in  urgency  and  importance 
that  of  training,  in  the  best  possible  way,  a 
select  class  of  women  who  shall  be  fully  compe 
tent  to  take  their  places  in  the  colleges,  acade 
mies,  high  schools,  grammar  schools,  and  nor 
mal  schools,  where  at  present  so  many  colored 
women  are  engaged  in  attempting  to  do  a  work 
for  which  they  have  had  no  adequate  prepa 
ration. 

We  are  about  to  enter  upon  the  twentieth 
century  of  the  Christian  era.      The  human  race 

is  making  great  progress  up- 
The  Twentieth  d       d  .         thi      is  this 

Century 

progress  more  marked  than 

in  the  place  it  accords  to  women.  Their 
spheres  of  activity  have  been  enlarged  and 
multiplied,  and  to-day  the  women,  especially 
in  America,  are  making  their  influence  felt 
more  and  more,  not  only  in  the  home,  but  in 
society,  in  the  church,  and  in  all  great  intel 
lectual,  social,  missionary,  and  religious  activi- 

112 


The  Higher  Education  of  Negro  Women 

ties.  The  education  of  women  ought  to  keep 
pace  with  their  opportunities.  Privilege  and 
power  should  go  together.  Higher  education 
is  coming  to  be  universally  recognized  as  one 
of  the  essential  elements  that  shall  prepare 
women  both  for  the  enjoyment  of  all  the 
privileges  that  the  age  offers  to  them  and 
for  the  performance  of  the  multiplied  duties 
that  it  exacts  from  them.  While  the  mass 
of  women,  both  white  and  colored,  are  un 
doubtedly  destined  for  many  years  to  come 
to  grow  up  in  comparative  ignorance,  with 
limited  education,  and  with  little  fitness  either 
to  enjoy  or  to  do,  there  is  an  increasing  recog 
nition  of  the  necessity  of  offering  to  all  those 
who  will  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunities, 
wider  and  wider  privileges  for  study.  We 
only  ask  for  the  colored  women  that  they  shall 
share  in  this  general  progress  of  the  race.  We 
believe  that  the  same  considerations  which 
justify  any  systematic  attempt  to  develop  the 
minds  of  the  young  through  any  lower  stage, 
prove  the  desirability  of  offering  to  the  few  the 
opportunity  for  continuing  the  process  through 
its  higher  stages.  The  spelling-book  is  the  key 
to  knowledge.  If  we  give  the  key  to  the  col 
ored  woman,  we  do  not  see  why  we  should  not 
H  113 


The  Negro  in  America 

offer  her  the  privilege  of  using  it  to  unlock 
whatever  treasure-house  of  learning  she  wishes 
to  explore. 

These  three  reasons,  then,  because  they  are 
Women,  because  most  of  them  will  be  Wives, 
because  all  of  them  will  be  Workers,  seem  to 
me  to  be  ample  justification  for  the  statement 
that  colored  women  ought  to  have  the  advan 
tages  of  the  higher  or  college  education. 


114 


RELIGIOUS    LIFE    AMONG    THE    NEGROES 

THE  African  contingent  of  American  life  pre 
sents  many  interesting  questions  in  sociology, 
among  the  most  important  being  that  of  the  de 
velopment  of  the  religious  life.  In  addition  to 
the  knowledge  gained  by  personal  observation, 
extending  through  many  years, — including  ex 
perience  as  an  officer  of  colored  troops, — sup 
plemented  by  information  gleaned  from  books 
and  other  sources,  I  have  recently  addressed  a 
series  of  questions  to  a  number  of  men,  white 
and  black,  Northern  and  Southern,  who  have 
had  exceptional  opportunities  for  observation, 
and  shall  now  attempt,  as  far  as  such  a  thing  is 
practicable,  to  state  a  few  generalizations,  fully 
realizing  how  imperfect  the  sketch  must  be. 

The  American  Negroes  comprise  several  dis 
tinct  classes.  First,  those  who  were  imported 
into  this  country  from  Africa  ;  second,  those 
born  in  America  of  African  parentage  ;  third, 
the  full-blood  African  born  in  this  country, 


The  Negro  in  America 

whose  parents  were  likewise  natives  of  America  ; 
fourth,  the  mixed  race,  varying  from  those  who 
have  merely  a  suggestion  of  white  blood,  to 
those  who  have  only  a  trace  of  Negro  blood 
left.  The  imported  Africans,  brought  here  in 
slaveships,  were  heathen,  grossly  ignorant, 
full  of  superstition,  and  having  only  the 
crudest  conception  of  religion.  These  poor 
creatures,  emerging  from  African  barbarism 
into  American  bondage,  did  not  offer  a  very 
promising  field  for  the  development  of  a  pure 
and  intelligent  Christianity,  for,  though  the  soil 
was  rich  enough,  it  hardly  seemed  adapted  to 
such  a  harvest.  African  nature  is  simply  human 
nature  bound  in  black — "  God's  image  carved 
in  ebony" — but  neither  an  African  barbarian 
nor  a  Negro  slave  is  the  ideal  of  an  enlightened 
Christian. 

There  are  minor  differences  which  differen 
tiate  the  African  from  the  Caucasian,  and  yet 
in  essential  elements  they  are  alike.  They  are 
both  human.  Many  of  the  differences  are 
traceable  to  environment.  The  conditions  of 
life  which  surrounded  them  in  Africa  were 
widely  different  from  those  which  confronted 
them  in  their  new  home  in  the  United  States. 
There  was  unbroken  heathenism  of  a  very  de- 
116 


Religious  Life  Among  the  Negroes 

graded  type  ;  here  they  were  surrounded  on 
all  sides  by  a  Christian  civilization,  with  its 
schools,  churches,  and  the  other  fruits  and 
agencies  of  progress,  and  the  white  men  to 
whom  slavery  introduced  them  were  easily 
recognized  as  vastly  superior  to  the  black  men 
in  Africa  with  whom  they  had  formerly  asso 
ciated.  In  due  course  of  time  Christianity 
made  very  considerable  progress  among  them. 
Many  of  them  received  faithful  Christian  in 
struction  in  the  homes  of  their  masters,  and 
large  numbers  were  converted  by  the  earnest 
preaching  of  white  pastors.  They  were  cor 
dially  welcomed  at  least  to  the  galleries  and 
back  seats  in  white  churches,  and  no  inconsid 
erable  number  of  them  were  admitted  into  full 
membership,  where  they  enjoyed  practically 
the  same  religious  instruction.  But,  of  course, 
they  were  neither  able  to  receive  it  in  the  same 
way  that  it  was  received  by  their  more  cultivated 
white  friends,  nor  to  embody  their  religious  as 
pirations  in  order  and  form  with  any  great  de 
gree  of  freedom,  although  occasionally  some 
of  those  who  exhibited  extraordinary  aptitudes 
were  allowed  to  devote  a  considerable  portion 
of  their  time  to  preaching. 

Speaking  in  general  terms  of  the  eight  million 
117 


The  Negro  in  America 

Negroes  in  this  country  at  the  present  time,  I 
think  it  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the  main,  subject 
to  local  modifications,  their  religious  status 
may  be  approximately  characterized  in  the  fol 
lowing  statements  : 

An  unusually  large  proportion  of  them  are 
professing  Christians.  It  is  reported  that  more 
than  one  million  six  hundred  thousand  of  their 
adults  are  communicants  in  regular  Baptist 
churches,  while  more  than  another  million  are 
enrolled  in  the  Methodist  churches  ;  besides 
these,  other  thousands  are  found  in  connection 
with  other  evangelical  denominations.  The 
progress  of  Christianity  among  them  since  the 
war  has  been  phenomenal,  unsurpassed,  if 
equaled  at  any  time  during  the  history  of 
Christian  missions. 

They  have  shown  a  remarkable  degree  of  lib 
erality  in  contributing  toward  religious  purposes. 
Notwithstanding  their  poverty  and  the  discour 
aging  circumstances  surrounding  them,  they 
have,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  expenses  of 
maintaining  religious  worship,  including  pas 
tors'  salaries,  contributed  probably  not  less 
than  ten  million  dollars  for  the  erection  of 
meeting  houses.  Some  of  these  buildings  are 
large,  costly,  convenient,  and  attractive. 
118 


Religious  Life  Among  the  Negroes 

They  have  done  remarkably  well,  consider 
ing  all  the  circumstances,  in  the  matter  of  edu 
cational,  missionary,  charitable,  and  philan 
thropic  work,  many  of  their  religious  institutions 
of  learning  being  managed  by  Negro  Boards  of 
trustees,  taught  by  Negro  teachers,  and  sup 
ported  largely  or  entirely  by  themselves.  They 
are  also  represented  on  the  Boards  and  in  the 
faculties  of  the  schools  maintained  for  them  by 
Northern  benevolence.  The  aggregate  amount 
which  they  pay  annually  toward  the  education 
of  their  children  in  Christian  institutions  is  a 
very  considerable  sum.  They  have  their  local, 
State,  and  national  educational  and  missionary 
organizations,  and  are  year  by  year  making 
progress  in  the  art  of  organization  and  admin 
istration.  While  they  have  very  much  yet  to 
learn  in  the  matter  of  systematizing  their  be 
neficence,  of  keeping  and  rendering  accurate 
accounts  of  money  received  and  disbursed,  they 
are  apt  learners  and  are  making  good  progress. 
They  edit  and  publish  numerous  religious  peri 
odicals,  some  of  them  evincing  vigor,  independ 
ence,  and  no  little  ability.  They  have  not  pro 
duced  any  noteworthy  books. 

Religious  life  among  them  is  still  character 
ized  by  a  predominance  of  the  emotional  ele- 
119 


The  Negro  in  America 

ment.  They  are  fond  of  music,  and  singing 
constitutes  an  important  part  of  their  worship. 
Those  who  have  never  heard  the  unrestrained 
outburst  of  melody  in  a  Negro  congregation, 
singing  under  religious  excitement,  cannot 
understand  the  completeness  with  which  a  soul 
may  empty  itself  in  song.  The  preaching 
which  affects  them  most  powerfully  is  that  which 
deals  in  vivid  description  and  appeals  to  their 
imaginations.  Strong  statement,  frequent  rep 
etition,  apt  illustration,  are  much  more  force 
ful  to  their  understanding  than  severely  logical 
appeals. 

The  divorcement  between  religion  and  mo 
rality  is  still  painfully  apparent  among  many 
Negro  Christians,  but  several  of  my  correspon 
dents  insist  that  it  does  not  exist  to  a  greater 
degree  than  it  does  among  white  people  of  a 
similar  grade  of  culture.  From  a  somewhat 
wide  observation,  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  the 
opinion  that  this  judgment  is  just.  When  we 
reflect  that  lynching  in  the  South  and  the  sup 
pression  of  the  ballot  by  fraud,  intimidation,  or 
violence  are  catalogued  among  the  vices  charge 
able  to  the  whites  and  not  to  the  Negro  ;  when 
we  recall  the  fact  that  in  almost  all  cases  the 
mixed  bloods  call  the  white  man  father  ;  and 
120 


Religious  Life  Among  the  Negroes 

we  also  remember  that  in  the  North  large 
numbers  of  white  saloon  keepers  and  mul 
titudes  of  criminals  in  our  prisons  are  church- 
members,  we  are  obliged  to  broaden  our  gen 
eralization  when  we  attempt  to  characterize 
Negro  religion  as  lacking  in  morality. 

It  is,  I  believe,  the  universal  testimony  of 
all  well-informed  persons,  that  the  type  of  piety 
among  the  Negroes  generally  is  slowly  and 
steadily  improving.  It  is  becoming  more  intel 
ligent,  more  moral  ;  less  superstitious,  less 
emotional,  and  conforms  more  and  more  fully 
to  the  New  Testament  ideal. 

Assuming  now  for  a  moment,  tentatively  and 
diffidently,  the  role  of  a  prophet,  I  venture  to 
suggest  that  in  another  half-century,  when  the 
Negro  population  of  this  country  will  number 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty  millions,  their  relig 
ious  life  will  be  characterized  chiefly  by  the 
following  marks  :  Their  form  of  church  gov 
ernment  will  be  largely  congregational,  with 
special  emphasis  upon  the  independence  of  the 
churches,  tempered  by  some  stress  upon  the 
power  and  authority  of  the  pastor  ;  their  mode 
of  worship  will  throw  off  that  which  is  now 
grotesque  and  offensive  to  refined  taste,  while 
retaining  as  peculiarly  its  own  an  especial 

121 


The  Negro  in  America 

warmth  of  feeling.  It  will  be  a  religion  of  the 
heart  rather  than  of  the  head.  While  education 
will  make  its  impress  both  upon  the  pulpit  and 
upon  the  pew,  it  will  develop,  not  intellectualism, 
but  a  softened,  chastened,  intelligent  emotional 
ism.  Faith,  while  not  wholly  discarding  philos 
ophy,  will  vindicate  itself  as  the  highest  expres 
sion  of  feeling.  While  not  sternly  and  severely 
ethical,  their  religious  life  will  be  moral  and 
be  marked  by  approaching  conformity  not  only 
to  the  Ten  Commandments,  but  to  the  ethical 
teachings  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Dis 
carding  the  allurements  of  aesthetic  and  gor 
geous  ritualism,  the  Negroes  will  cultivate  and 
bring  to  a  high  state  of  development  pulpit 
oratory  and  sacred  music.  Negro  religion  will 
add  to  its  other  graces  the  grace  of  liberality, 
pouring  its  contributions  freely  into  missionary, 
philanthropic,  and  charitable  channels. 


122 


VI 

NEGROPHOBIA 

RACE  antipathies  are  universal.  The  German 
dislikes  the  Frenchman  ;  the  Frenchman  has  an 
antipathy  for  the  Spaniard  ;  the  Irish  and  the 
English  are  separated  not  only  by  the  channel, 
but  also  by  race  prejudice.  To  the  ancient 
Greeks  all  other  people  were  barbarians,  while 
the  Jews  characterized  the  rest  of  mankind  as 
Gentiles,  pronouncing  the  word  with  a  frown 
and  injecting  into  it  a  lofty  scorn.  It  is  fre 
quently  the  case  that  two  races  of  people  will 
live  side  by  side,  generation  after  generation, 
each  preserving  its  own  language,  manners,  and 
customs,  cherishing  its  own  hauteur,  looking  with 
disdain  upon  even  the  virtues  of  its  neighbor. 
It  is  indeed  rare  that  separate  and  distinct  peo 
ples  ever  completely  blend  into  one  nationality. 
The  persistence  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  the  Scotch, 
the  Irish,  and  the  Welsh  types  of  character,  ex 
isting  side  by  side  for  centuries,  under  a  com 
mon  government,  is  a  case  in  point. 
123 


The  Negro  in  America 

In  America,  where  there  is  a  greater  blend 
ing  of  different  peoples  than  has  ever  occurred 

before,   the  process  of  as- 
National  .    .,  ,.  ,         .-     ,. 

.    ..  ,.  similation    and    unification 

Assimilation 

has  gone  on  with  increasing 

rapidity,  and  were  it  not  for  the  tides  of  immi 
gration  emptying  upon  our  shores,  year  by 
year,  vast  numbers  from  the  different  nations 
of  the  old  world,  the  day  might  be  predicted 
with  some  degree  of  certainty  when  the  people 
of  the  United  States  would  be  substantially  one, 
and  when  the  lines  that  now  separate  them 
into  national  classes — Germans,  Irish,  Scandi 
navians,  Poles,  Russians,  Americans — would 
disappear.  The  forces  at  work,  a  common 
language,  the  public  schools,  the  newspapers, 
free  intercourse,  the  leveling  process  of  repub 
lican  institutions,  are  well-nigh  irresistible,  and 
are  serving  to  destroy,  except  as  a  reminiscence 
and  a  bit  of  race  sentiment,  all  distinctions 
based  upon  previous  nationality.  The  third 
generation  is  American  and  divides  into  classes 
along  other  and  artificial  lines, — wealth,  culture, 
occupation, — and  not  upon  those  of  race. 

One  of  the  marked  exceptions  to  this  process 
which  attracts  the  attention  of  every  student  of 
American  life,  is  the  persistence  of  the  race 
124 


Negrophobia 

line  that  separates  the  Negro  from  the  Cau 
casian.      While    this    statement    is    subject    to 

slight    modifications,    it    is 

A  Notable 
true  as  a  general  proposi-         Exception 

tion  that  the  Negroes,  or  as 
they  are  commonly  called,  the  colored  people, 
are  a  class  by  themselves,  who  are  separated 
from  others  by  a  well-known,  impassable  gulf. 
Out  of  a  total  population  of  about  seventy 
millions,  there  are,  approximately,  eight  mil 
lions  who  are  classed  as  Negroes,  and  though 
there  is  a  large  illicit  mixture  of  Caucasian 
blood,  they  are  regarded  not  as  Americans 
simply,  but  as  Negroes.  There  is  a  well- 
marked  antipathy  to  them  ;  sometimes  this  is 
very  slight,  indeed,  scarcely  perceptible,  and 
in  individual  cases  it  disappears.  But,  speak 
ing  in  general  terms,  there  exists  on  the  part 
of  the  Caucasian  element  of  American  life  a 
strong,  deeply  seated  prejudice  against  the 
Negro  ;  he  is  looked  upon  as  an  inferior, 
treated  as  an  alien,  and  is  denied  the  privileges 
that  are  freely  accorded  to  others.  There  is  a 
marked  discrimination  against  the  Negroes  as 
Negroes. 

It  would   not   be  fair   to   say  that  they  are 
hated,  that   there  exists  well-defined    Negro- 


The  Negro  in  America 

phobia  among  us,  as  characteristic  of  our  na 
tional  life;  and  yet  in  some  portions  of  the 
country  the  unreasoning  and  unjust  dislike 
amounts  practically  to  a  disease,  and  is  not 
inaptly  described  as  Negrophobia.  This  dislike 
shows  itself  primarily,  and  in  its  most  marked 
form,  in  social  ostracism.  Negroes  are  practi 
cally  banished  from  the  society  of  the  Caucasian. 
While  intermarriage  between  all  other  constit 
uent  elements  of  the  American  people  is  com 
mon  and  excites  no  comment  (the  Chinese 
scarcely  offer  an  exception  to  this),  intermar 
riage  on  the  part  of  the  Negroes  with  white  peo 
ple  is  tabooed.  Such  alliances  serve  to  alienate 
from  the  white  race,  in  some  States  the  law  pro 
hibiting  them  and  setting  the  seal  of  illegitimacy 
upon  the  offspring.  There  is  practically  no 
social  intermingling  of  the  races  ;  Negroes  are 
not  invited  to  social  entertainments  by  white 
people,  and  only  in  exceptional  cases  are  they 
allowed  to  sit  at  the  same  table.  They  do  not 
frequent  the  same  hotels  nor  occupy  the  same 
boarding-houses  ;  ordinarily  they  do  not  live 
in  the  same  quarter  of  the  city  occupied  by 
white  people.  Even  in  the  North  the  sale  of 
a  house  to  a  Negro  in  a  fashionable  part  of  a 
city  would  probably  cause  an  immediate  decline 
126 


Negrophobia 

in  the  price  of  real  estate  in  that  section.  In 
many  of  the  Northern  cities  there  are  spots 
known  as  "Little  Africa,"  occupied  chiefly  by 
Negroes,  with  a  sprinkling  of  the  lower  grade 
of  whites.  Everywhere  throughout  the  South, 
and  generally  throughout  the  North,  they  have 
their  separate  churches,  and  are  seldom  seen 
in  any  considerable  numbers  in  white  congre 
gations  ;  in  theatres  and  other  places  of  en 
tertainment,  frequently  in  the  North  and  uni 
versally  in  the  South,  they  are  separated  from 
other  spectators. 

•  There  are  two  curious  features  about  this 
race  antipathy  between  the  Caucasian  and  the 

African  ;    one  is,  that  it  is 

r      ,    i  i     •     i        Two  Curious 

confined  almost  exclusively          p 

to  the  Caucasian.  Negroes 
manifest,  in  most  cases,  a  good  deal  of  affec 
tion  for  the  white  people,  and  are  very  ready 
to  accept  service  of  any  sort  which  brings  them 
into  relationship  with  them.  As  house  servants, 
body  servants,  nurses,  field  hands,  porters, 
waiters,  they  are  faithful,  docile,  affectionate, 
and  in  extreme  cases  almost  servile.  It  is 
true  that  there  has  been  since  the  war  an  in 
creasing  disposition,  on  the  part  of  ambitious 
colored  men,  "  to  draw  the  color  line,"  and  to 
127 


The  Negro  in  America 

insist,  partly,  it  is  to  be  feared,  for  selfish  pur 
poses,  that  all  positions  of  honor  and  profit, 
especially  in  the  Negro  schools,  shall  be  filled 
by  Negroes,  to  the  exclusion  of  even  more 
competent  white  people. 

The  other  fact  is,  that  the  antipathy  of  the 
white   man  against  the   Negro   is,  apparently, 

chiefly  a  matter  of  caste  and 
Caste  and 
Cultur  culture,    and  not    a   native 

instinct.  In  the  days  of 
slavery,  white  and  colored  children  mingled 
together  in  the  most  unrestrained  freedom, 
and  they  do  so  still.  It  was  very  common  for 
the  master  and  the  mistress  of  the  plantation  to 
commit  their  children,  while  infants,  to  the 
care  of  black  nurses,  who  had  the  entire  over 
sight  of  them  and  showed  them  the  most  ten 
der  affection.  The  children  reciprocated  this 
affection,  and  oftentimes  seemed  to  cherish  a 
stronger  love  for  their  black  nurses  than  they 
did  for  their  white  mothers.  It  is  very  com 
mon  even  now  to  hear  eminent  Southern  men, 
publicly  and  privately,  speak  rather  boastingly 
of  their  affection  for  their  "black  mammy." 
Blood-blending  of  the  races  in  the  South, 
fostered  by  slavery — and  still  prevalent  in  spite 
of  the  restrictions  of  liberty  which  recognize  the 
128 


Negrophobia 

black  man  as  the  natural  protector  of  his  family 
— would,  apparently,  in  the  course  of  time,  re 
sult  in  complete  amalgamation  if  left  to  the  op 
eration  of  natural  laws. 

While  at  the  North  Negroes  are  admitted  to 
the  public  schools,   colleges,  and  universities, 

on  terms  of  equality  with 

,  ..   .  Color  Line 

other  students,  it  is  not  so 

in  Schools 

at    the    South,    where    the 

doors  of  the  higher  institutions  patronized  by 
the  whites  are  locked  and  barred  against  the 
entrance  of  any  person,  however  worthy,  in 
whose  veins  there  is  a  suspicion  of  colored 
blood.  The  public  schools  are  divided  into 
two  distinct  classes,  one  for  the  whites  and 
one  for  the  Negroes  ;  and  even  in  sparsely  set 
tled  rural  districts,  where  it  is  difficult  to  main 
tain  free  schools,  this  expensive  and  arbitrary 
distinction  is  kept  up.  In  some  of  the  South 
ern  States  separate  coaches  on  the  railroad 
trains  are  set  apart  for  them,  and  though  they 
pay  the  same  fare  and  may  be  well  dressed,  in 
telligent,  virtuous,  clean,  polite,  sensitive,  they 
are  obliged  to  accept  inferior  accommodations, 
and  are  often  subjected  to  indignities  and  in 
convenience  on  account  of  their  color. 

The  prejudice  against  the  Negro  shows  itself 
i  129 


The  Negro  in  America 

in  his  practical  exclusion  from  most  of  the  de 
sirable  positions  in  business.  He  may  be  a 
porter  on  a  train,  but  not  a  conductor  ;  a  fire 
man,  possibly,  but  not  an  engineer  ;  he  may 
run  a  barber  shop,  but  not  be  a  master  carpen 
ter  ;  he  may  drive  a  hack  or  keep  a  saloon,  but 
he  must  not  be  a  merchant ;  he  may  be  a 
watchman  in  a  bank,  but  he  cannot  be  a  book 
keeper  or  cashier.  Of  course  there  are  excep 
tions  to  what  is  here  said,  but  the  general 
statement  remains  true,  that  the  Negroes  are 
debarred  from  active  participation  in  the  most 
desirable  and  remunerative  forms  of  industry 
and  of  business. 

A  notable  exception  to  this  general  rule  is 
found  in  their  employment  by  the  government 
in  responsible  positions  under  the  Civil  Service 
rules.  In  many  of  the  departments  at  Wash 
ington  there  are  Negro  men  and  women  who 
have  secured  their  places  by  competitive  exam 
ination  ;  even  here,  however,  it  is  true  that  color 
serves  as  a  bar  to  appointment,  and  not  unfre- 
quently,  it  is  said,  is  an  occasion  for  dismissal. 

While  the  Negro  is  made  a  citizen  by  the 
United  States  Constitution,  and  is  entitled  to 
all  the  rights  and  privileges  attaching  to  citi 
zenship,  and  while  the  theory  of  the  republican 
130 


Negrophobia 

government  is  the  right  of  every  legally  quali 
fied  voter  to  participate  in  political  affairs,  to 
vote  and  be  voted  for,  and 
while  the  fundamental  ele- 
ment  that  underlies  Ameri 
can  institutions  is  the  right  of  the  majority  to 
rule,  the  fact  remains  as  a  curious  anomaly, 
that,  practically,  he  is  disfranchised  in  a  consid 
erable  portion  of  the  South.  The  un-Ameri 
can  dictum  which  embodies  the  political  phi 
losophy  that  results  in  his  practical  disfranchise  - 
ment  in  many  portions  of  the  country  is,  "  This 
is  a  white  man's  government,"  which  is  a  plain 
and  explicit  repudiation  of  the  Constitution, 
and  a  revolutionary  denial  of  republicanism. 
It  is  political  Negrophobia,  the  denial  to  a 
whole  class  of  people,  simply  on  the  ground 
of  color,  of  the  rights  and  privileges  incident 
to  manhood,  and  guaranteed  by  the  most 
august  political  document  in  the  world.  It  is 
not  meant  here  that  Negroes  are  not  allowed 
to  vote  in  some  places,  nor  that  in  certain  lo 
calities  they  are  not  even  elected  to  office. 
There  is  probably  an  improving  public  senti 
ment  at  the  South,  as  a  whole,  in  regard  to 
their  political  rights  ;  nevertheless,  the  fact  re 
mains  as  stated,  that  by  reason  of  race  preju- 


The  Negro  in  America 

dice  they  suffer  restriction,  limitation,  and  in 
justice  in  political  matters  which  are  not  suffered 
by  any  other  class  of  American  citizens. 

Dislike  of  the  Negroes  because  they  are  Ne 
groes  manifests  itself  also  in  certain  portions  of 
the  country  in  acts  of  injus- 
Injustice  tice.  It  is  said,  and  be 
lieved,  that  in  many  cases 
they  are  convicted  and  punished  for  offenses 
against  the  law,  where  white  men  would  be 
either  acquitted  or  more  lightly  punished.  In 
some  cases  the  presumption  appears  to  be,  not 
that  they  are  innocent  until  proven  guilty,  but 
that  they  are  guilty  as  charged  unless  they  can 
establish  their  innocence.  This  is  doubtless  an 
extreme  statement,  and  yet  its  accuracy  is 
vouched  for.  The  numerous  cases  of  lynching, 
putting  men  to  death  without  trial  by  judge  or 
jury,  oftentimes  on  the  mere  suspicion  of 
crime,  is,  perhaps,  the  most  startling  manifesta 
tion  of  the  disease  of  Negrophobia  which  has 
thus  far  shown  itself.  Doubtless  there  are 
cases  that  are  very  aggravating,  where  crimes  of 
great  enormity  and  brutality  have  been  com 
mitted  and  where  the  slow  and  sometimes  te 
dious  processes  of  law  are  very  trying  to  the 
public  patience  ;  nevertheless,  the  fact  seems 
132 


Negrophobia 

to  be  established  beyond  question  that  Negroes 
have  suffered  from  lawlessness  out  of  all  pro 
portion  to  the  crimes  committed,  and  far  be 
yond  any  other  class  of  citizens. 

Every  man  of  whatever  condition  when  ac 
cused  of  crime  is  entitled  to  a  fair  trial.  No 
man  should  be  hung  on  suspicion. 

Among  the  unhappy  results  flowing  from 
this  unreasoning  prejudice — a  prejudice  that 

voices   itself    in    such    op- 

,     .  ...  Some  Fruits  of 

probnous   epithets  as          Prejudice 

"niggers,"  "darkies," 
"coons,"  "bucks,"  "wenches,"  is  that  it 
places  a  stigma  upon  an  entire  class  of  human 
beings,  numbering  millions  of  people  ;  it  fails 
to  recognize  personal  character  and  individual 
merit.  However  talented  or  cultivated  or  re 
fined  or  sensitive  or  worthy  a  man  or  woman 
may  be,  his  colored  blood  dooms  him  to  igno 
miny,  and  classifies  him  with  the  outcast. 
There  are  positions  of  usefulness  and  honor 
which  he  could  creditably  fill,  to  which  he 
cannot  aspire  by  reason  of  his  color.  The 
public  sentiment  against  him,  like  an  untimely 
frost,  destroys  even  in  its  germ  the  noblest  as 
pirations  of  his  soul.  Why  should  he  study  to 
become  a  scholar  ?  Why  should  he  strive  after 


The  Negro  in  America 

intellectual  discipline  and  power  ?  Why  should 
he  cultivate  the  graces  ?  Why  should  he  resist 
temptation  to  evil,  and  seek  to  show  himself 
noble  and  Christian,  if  all  his  best  endeavors 
are  to  be  met  by  a  sneer  ?  Why  should  he 
strive  to  equal  the  white  man  in  his  virtues  if 
the  white  man  refuses  him  recognition  and  de 
nies  him  the  opportunity  of  utilizing  his  attain 
ments?  The  great  motive  force  of  human 
progress  is  hope,  the  desire  of  achievement, 
and  the  expectation  of  reward  that  comes  from 
earnest  and  worthy  effort.  What,  then,  can 
be  expected  of  a  race  from  which  these  rewards 
are  withheld,  and  from  whose  breast  hope  is 
plucked  out  ? 

Along   with    this  discouragement,   which  is 
well-nigh  fatal  to  progress,  there  is  on  the  part 

of  the  sensitive  and  refined 
Wounded  , 

Sensibilities       a    deeP    sense    of    mJur>r- 
The  Negro  knows  that  he 

is  not  personally  responsible  for  his  color  ;  he 
was  not  consulted  in  the  choice  of  his  race 
connections  ;  he  cannot  remove  the  obstacles 
to  his  progress  that  his  more  fortunate  white 
neighbor  has  put  in  his  way ;  he  is  largely 
helpless,  and  when  he  is  met  by  rebuff  and  in 
sult,  and  with  limitation  and  restriction,  espe- 
134 


Negrophobia 

cially  when  he  sees  his  best  endeavors  treated 
with  ridicule,  and  beholds  life's  most  cherished 
rewards  bestowed  upon  men  whom  he  knows 
to  be  his  inferiors  in  everything  except  color, 
he  feels  deeply  wounded  and  oftentimes  even 
almost  crushed.  He  keenly  recognizes  the  in 
justice  of  his  treatment,  and  cannot  help  cher 
ishing  in  his  heart  of  hearts  a  feeling  of  resent 
ment  against  those  who  assume  to  degrade  him 
because  of  his  color.  Undoubtedly,  in  some 
instances,  this  feeling  of  wounded  honor,  of 
injustice,  of  resentment,  may  take  the  form  of 
revenge,  and  he  may  seek  to  inflict  upon  his 
oppressor  the  punishment  which  he  honestly 
feels  belongs  to  one  who  will  wantonly  inflict 
evil  upon  a  fellow  human  being  without  cause. 
It  is  possible  that  in  many  cases  among  the 
lower  grades  of  them,  crime  may  be  insti 
gated,  partly  at  least,  by  this  feeling  of  injus 
tice.  The  Negro  feels  that  he  suffers  injustice 
from  the  white  people,  and  that  the  only  way 
in  which  he  can  avenge  himself,  or  punish 
wrong,  is  by  himself  violating  law.  As  every 
white  man's  hand  is  against  him,  he  feels  justi 
fied  in  lifting  his  hand  against  the  white  race. 
These  acts  of  resentment,  of  revenge,  of  crime, 
resulting  from  the  injuries  they  suffer  by  reason 


The  Negro  in  America 

of  the  prejudice  against  them,  react  upon  the 
white  race  and  give  to  them  an  excuse,  at  least, 
for  continuing  their  course  of  injustice  ;  and 
thus  these  two  evils  act  and  react,  and  in  some 
instances  utter  demoralization  in  a  community 
results. 

If  it  be  asked,  "  What  is  the  remedy  for  this 
unhappy  state  of  things  ?  ' '    the  answer  is  diffi 
cult  to  formulate.      If  the 
Is  There  a  ..     .. 

R  .  _  antipathy  results  from  con 
scious  superiority  on  the 
part  of  the  white  man  and  from  inherent  infe 
riority  on  the  part  of  the  African,  then  there  is 
apparently  no  help  for  it,  unless  it  be  in  the 
exalted  magnanimity  of  the  white  race,  the 
outgrowth  of  culture  and  of  the  Christian 
religion,  which  is  willing  to  recognize,  even  in 
the  weakness  of  the  Negro,  a  reason  for  con 
siderate  treatment.  "The  Ethiopian  cannot 
change  his  skin,"  and  it  is  possible  that  he 
must  always  suffer  by  reason  of  that  fact,  so 
long  as  he  attempts  to  live  on  terms  of  equality 
under  the  same  flag  with  the  white  man.  In 
so  far  as  the  prejudice  against  him  results  from 
his  ignorance,  inferiority,  barbarity — the  sad 
heritage  of  slavery — the  only  remedy  is  that 
which  results  from  education,  industry,  and 
136 


Negrophobia 

civilization.  His  hope  is  in  the  spelling-book. 
When  he  can  establish  beyond  peradventure 
that  he  has  the  same  fundamental  qualities  of 
mind,  the  same  possibilities  of  culture,  and 
when  he  achieves  scholarship  and  is  able  to 
meet  the  white  man  on  his  own  ground  and 
contend  with  him  successfully  as  a  laborer  and 
organizer,  a  thinker,  a  leader,  he  will  get  the 
recognition  that  is  always  accorded  to  strength. 
Those  of  the  rising  generation  must  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunities  for  education 
now  offered  to  them,  and  must  be  satisfied 
with  nothing  less  than  the  broadest  attainments 
possible,  if  they  are  to  wrest  from  their  white 
associates  recognition  of  their  manhood.  It  is 
also,  doubtless,  true  that  they  will  be  respected, 
generally,  in  proportion  to  their  real  moral 
worth.  If  they  are  honest,  truthful,  law-abiding, 
pure  in  life,  self-restraining,  charitable,  gener 
ous,  and  just,  they  will  by  these  high  qualities 
be  able,  in  a  certain  measure,  to  enforce  from 
their  white  neighbors  the  recognition  of  the 
dignity  of  their  character.  The  transforming 
power  of  Christianity  will  do  for  them  what 
no  other  force  can  possibly  accomplish  ;  just  as 
far  as  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ  is  illustrated 
in  their  lives  will  they  receive  from  other  men 
137 


The  Negro  in  America 

the  recognition  due  to  those  made  in  the  image 
of  God. 

History  seems  to  teach  that  no  people  ever 
yet  secured  a  recognition  of  their  rights  in  their 

fullness    and    entirety  who 
Violence  to  be  ....        ._     '     , 

Avoided  were  not  wlllmS>  lf  need  be' 

to  fight  for  them.  Justice 
sometimes  waits  on  slaughter,  and  liberty  on 
victory.  It  would  be  inexpressibly  sad  if  the 
conclusion  should  be  forced  upon  us  in  this 
country  of  liberty  and  of  enlightenment,  that 
the  Negro  would  be  compelled  to  achieve  his 
complete  emancipation  by  force.  No  one 
doubts  his  right  to  defend  his  person,  his 
family,  and  his  home  against  unlawful  assault ; 
and  it  may  be  that  unless  he  manifests  at  least 
a  willingness  to  fight  he  never  can  become  ab 
solutely  free.  Let  us  hope,  however,  that  the 
inherent  justice  of  his  claim  to  the  treatment 
that  belongs  to  manhood,  fortified  and  empha 
sized  by  thrift,  industry,  and  excellence  of 
character,  may  secure  for  him  without  violence 
that  which  belongs  to  him  as  an  American 
citizen.  It  should  do  so  in  a  Christian  land. 

Social  equality  is  not  a  question  of  law  nor 
of  compulsion,    but  of  taste  and  inclination. 
The  Negro  has  no  right  to  demand,  nor  will  he 
138 


Negrophobia 

himself  concede,  any  claims  for  social  considera 
tion  based  upon  any  other  than  social  merits. 
His    political    rights,   however,    he  may  claim 
under  the  Constitution,  and  the  right  to  earn 
a  living  and  to  have  the  reward  of  his  labor  he 
may  claim  under  a  higher  law  than  the  Consti 
tution — the  law  of  immutable  right.      ' '  What 
soever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap. ' ' 
The  time  is  already  approaching  when  unrea 
soning  prejudice    against  any  class  of  people 
will  cease  to  work  injustice,  and  when  the  po 
litical  philosophy  of  equal  manhood  and  the 
divine  teaching  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and 
the  brotherhood  of  man  will  efface  any  arbi 
trary,  unreasoning,  harmful  lines  that  separate 
one  class  of  American  citizens  from  another. 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  facts  in  regard 
to   the  relation  of  the  races    is    the  rare    pa 
tience  and  self-control  thus    , 

......        ,       XT        Negro  Patience 

far  exhibited  by  the  Ne 
groes  under  the  most  exasperating  circum 
stances.  During  the  days  of  slavery  they 
were,  for  the  most  part,  obedient,  trust 
worthy,  and  faithful ;  insurrections  were  al 
most  unheard-of,  and  acts  of  revenge  un 
known.  Here  and  there  a  slave,  more  reso 
lute  and  adventurous  than  his  fellows,  escaped 
139 


The  Negro  in  America 

from  slavery  and  found  refuge  in  the  North. 
During  the  war,  notwithstanding  they  generally 
understood  that  slavery  hung  in  the  balance, 
and  that  the  welfare  of  the  slave  was  condi 
tioned  on  the  success  of  the  Union  arms,  most 
of  them  remained  patiently  on  the  plantations, 
toiling  for  their  absent  masters,  who  were  in 
the  Southern  army,  fighting  to  render  slavery 
permanent,  and  by  their  tender  solicitude  for 
the  white  women  and  children  entrusted  to 
them,  awakened  the  wonder  of  the  South  at 
their  magnanimity  and  fidelity.  They  have, 
in  most  instances,  quietly  submitted  to  the  in 
justice  and  cruelty  of  the  mobs  that  have,  on 
mere  suspicion  of  wrong-doing,  put  hundreds 
of  them  to  cruel  death,  and  with  only  a  mild 
protest  have  allowed  themselves  to  be  robbed 
of  their  political  rights  and  privileges. 

In    spite   of  all    obstacles,    there    has  been 
steady  growth  of  wealth,  culture,  self-respect, 

and    power    among    them, 
Growth  of  ,     *          ..    , 

Public  Opinion     and    Wlth    lt   has    come    a 
growing     consciousness    of 

the  wrongs  they  have  suffered,  and  an  increas 
ing  demand  for  a  recognition  of  their  rights. 
There  is  also,  if  we  mistake  not,  a  steady 
change  taking  place  in  the  minds  of  thoughtful 
140 


Negrophobia 

white  people,  North  and  South,  regarding 
them.  Privileges  are  cheerfully  conceded  to 
day  which  fifty  years  ago  would  have  been  re 
garded  as  impossible.  Perhaps  it  is  not  too 
much  to  predict  that  public  sentiment,  which 
generally  moves  in  right  directions,  with  accel 
erated  ratio,  will  in  another  half-century,  with 
out  violence,  concede  to  them  every  right  and 
privilege  of  every  kind  of  which  they  are 
deserving. 

In  this  discussion  it  is  worthy  of  note  that 
the  continuance  of  an  unreasoning  prejudice 
against  the  Negroes  will  work  injury  not  only 
to  them,  but  to  the  white  people  as  well. 
Slavery  was  a  curse  to  the  master  no  less  than 
to  the  slave.  No  class  of  people  can  cherish 
irrational  sentiments  toward  another  without 
themselves  being  thereby  corrupted.  The 
eight  million  Negroes  of  this  country,  des 
tined  to  become  fifty  millions  at  no  distant 
day,  will  of  necessity  exert  an  influence  of  in 
creasing  potency  upon  the  welfare  and  progress 
of  the  republic.  If  they  are  kept  down  they 
will  drag  their  oppressors  to  their  own  level ; 
if  they  are  permitted  to  rise,  socially,  indus 
trially,  intellectually,  religiously,  politically, 
they  will  stimulate  and  help,  if  not  compel, 
141 


The  Negro  in  America 

corresponding  advancement  in  all  respects  on 
the  part  of  all  their  white  fellow-citizens  of  even 
the  lowest  class.  We  are  a  solidarity,  and  what 
affects  one  class  must,  of  necessity,  affect  all 
classes.  Injustice  will  work  disaster,  while 
justice  will  promote  the  public  welfare. 


142 


VII 

THE    NEGROES    UNDER    FREEDOM 

THE  progress  of  the  Negroes  since  emanci 
pation  is  noteworthy.     Indeed,  it  is  doubtful 

whether  any  race  of  people 

Progress 

has    ever   accomplished    as 

much  along  the  lines  of  civilized  development 
in  the  same  period  of  time.  While  it  is  true 
that  this  progress  has  not  been  such  as  to  in 
dicate  the  possession  on  their  part  of  any  ex 
ceptional  endowments,  it  has  been  sufficient  to 
show  that  they  are  possessed  of  all  the  ordinary 
faculties  of  humanity,  and  to  give  great  satis 
faction  to  those  who  have  stoutly  contended 
for  their  essential  manhood.  Those,  however, 
who  are  disposed  to  take  an  especially  opti 
mistic  view  of  the  future  of  the  Negroes  be 
cause  of  their  progress  since  emancipation,  will 
do  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  when  this  is 
measured  by  that  of  the  race  with  which  they 
come  into  competition,  it  is  evident  that  they  are 
not  only  not  overtaking  the  white  people,  but 


The  Negro  in  America 

that  they  are,  relatively,  falling  behind.  It  is 
probably  safe  to  say  that  the  distance  which 
separates  between  the  average  white  man  of 
to-day  and  the  average  Negro  is  greater  than 
that  which  separated  them  in  the  days  of 
slavery. 

All  progress  is  relative,  and  in  estimating  the 
advance  in  educational  matters,  it  is  a  little 
difficult  to  form  a  just  judgment  based  upon 
the  number  of  those  who  have  been  pupils  in 
higher  institutions  of  learning.  It  is,  of  course, 
a  matter  of  congratulation  that  many  thousands 
of  them  have  been  pupils  in  Negro  colleges, 
universities,  and  theological  seminaries,  for  a 
considerable  time,  where  they  have  received 
an  education  far  in  advance  of  that  possible  in 
former  days,  and  which  will  be  greatly  to  their 
advantage  in  the  practical  affairs  of  life.  When, 
however,  we  come  to  analyze  the  facts  we  find 
that,  for  the  most  part,  the  grade  of  instruction 
in  all  of  these  so-called  higher  institutions  has 
been  necessarily  of  a  low  order,  and  that  com 
paratively  few  have  really  completed  the 
courses  of  study.  The  number  of  college 
graduates  is,  in  comparison  with  the  whole 
number,  very  small,  and  that  of  those  who 
have  graduated  from  a  Northern  college  is 
144 


The  Negroes  Under  Freedom 

necessarily  very  much  less.  It  is,  therefore, 
not  untrue  nor  unfair  to  the  Negroes  to  say 
that  the  body  of  men  and  women  among  them 
who  can  be  said  to  be  well  educated  is  very 
small  indeed.  While  some  of  them  have  taken 
good  rank,  even  at  Harvard  and  other  great 
institutions,  few,  if  any,  either  men  or  women, 
have  achieved  any  distinction  in  the  line  of 
scholarship.  Among  the  one  million  six  hun 
dred  thousand  Baptist  Negroes,  which  host  in 
cludes  a  very  considerable  number  of  those  who 
have  had  the  advantages  of  more  or  less  edu 
cation,  it  is  rare  to  find  one  who  can  properly 
lay  claim  to  any  broad  attainment,  accurate 
scholarship,  or  liberal  culture.  Using  the  term 
as  it  applies  to  the  white  race,  to  include  those 
who  have  had  exceptional  advantages  from 
childhood,  and  who  have  carried  their  culture 
to  a  high  degree,  it  may  be  said,  without  in 
tending  to  make  any  invidious  comparison, 
that,  strictly  speaking,  there  is  to-day  among 
them  no  educated  class.  If  one  were  looking 
for  men  to  fill  important  professorships  in  the 
great  universities  of  the  country,  he  would  not 
expect  to  find  any  Negro  candidates  qualified 
for  the  position. 

In  estimating  the  value  of  the  Negro  public 
K  145 


The  Negro  in  America 

schools  of  the  South  as  a  factor  in  their  devel 
opment  we  should  not  be  misled  by  familiar 

terms.     Compared  with  the 
Public  School      XT      ,  ... 

Education          Northern    public    schools, 

those  for  the  Negroes,  gen 
erally  speaking,  are  very  poor,  and  the  results 
must  necessarily  correspond  with  the  means 
used.  The  masses  of  the  Negro  children  of 
to-day  are  receiving  the  most  primitive  sort  of 
education.  In  order  that  the  public  schools 
may  do  for  them  what  the  public  school  system 
of  the  North  is  doing  for  its  rising  generation, 
they  must  have  better  buildings,  better  equip 
ment,  better  teachers,  better  supervision,  in 
deed,  betterment  of  every  kind.  "  The  foun 
tain  cannot  rise  higher  than  its  source,"  and 
until  the  teachers  are  properly  educated  for 
their  work  it  must  necessarily  be  poorly  done. 
There  is  the  most  urgent  need  everywhere  in 
the  South  for  a  common  sense  system  of  normal 
training  that  shall  prepare  colored  men  and 
women,  in  some  measure  at  least,  for  the  diffi 
cult,  delicate,  important,  and  urgent  work  of 
promoting  the  moral  and  intellectual  advance 
ment  of  its  rising  generation.  Until  this  need 
is  supplied  their  progress  must  be  slow  and  un 
satisfactory  compared  with  what  it  might  be. 
146 


The  Negroes  Under  Freedom 

Moreover,  the  contrast  between  the  de 
nominational  schools  of  the  North — acade 
mies,  colleges,  and  theolog- 

.       .  ,    .    ..  Religious 

ical  seminaries — and  similar  c  .      , 

dcnoois 
institutions  for  the  Negroes 

is  very  striking.  Nowhere  in  the  South, 
among  the  Baptists  at  least,  is  there  a  sec 
ondary  school  or  academy  which  can  for  a  mo 
ment  be  compared,  for  instance,  with  the  Bap 
tist  Academy  at  Worcester,  Mass.  While  the 
secondary  schools  are  doing  valuable  work, 
and  are  contributing  toward  the  elevation  of 
the  race,  they  are  sadly  handicapped  in  equip 
ment  and  in  teaching  force.  A  striking  illus 
tration  of  the  existing  disparity  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  while  among  the  less  than  one  million 
white  Baptists  of  the  North  there  are  five  strong, 
well-manned,  well-equipped  theological  semi 
naries  which  are  every  year  adding  to  the 
number  of  men  thoroughly  trained  for  the 
work  of  the  pastorate  :  for  the  one  million  six 
hundred  thousand  Negro  Baptists  of  the  South 
there  is  but  one  theological  seminary,  poorly 
equipped,  with  a  small  faculty.  The  lack  of 
properly  trained  pastors  and  religious  guides  is 
one  of  the  very  discouraging  features  of  the 
situation. 

147 


The  Negro  in  America 

One  of  the  marked  indications  of  progress  is 
the  number  of  men  who  are  engaged  in  the 
editing  of  newspapers,  or 
in  the  practice  of  medicine 
or  law.  The  care  of  the 
sick  among  eight  millions  of  people  is  a  matter 
of  the  highest  concern,  and  their  future  de 
pends  in  great  degree  upon  the  manner  in 
which  this  is  done.  It  is  frequently  said  that 
the  race  is  deteriorating  under  the  new  condi 
tions  of  freedom,  and  the  startling  death  rate 
is  often  cited  as  confirming  this  theory.  Un 
der  the  conditions  surrounding  them  since 
emancipation,  they  have  been  peculiarly  ex 
posed  to  the  ravages  of  disease  ;  for  ignorance 
and  poverty  are  great  destroyers  of  human  life. 
The  laws  of  hygiene,  of  sanitation,  and  the 
elements  of  good  housekeeping,  as  taught  in 
the  better  schools,  are,  in  some  measure  at 
least,  mitigating  the  evils  of  neglect,  and  will 
more  and  more  assist  in  preventing  or  check 
ing  disease.  Those  who  have  been  trained  as 
nurses  in  such  schools  as  Spelman  Seminary 
have  become  very  skillful,  and  show  remark 
able  adaptation  to  the  delicate  and  important 
duties  of  caring  for  the  sick.  Others,  educated 
as  pharmacists,  exhibit  good  capacity  and  find 
148 


The  Negroes  Under  Freedom 

ready  and  remunerative  employment.  The 
Leonard  Medical  School  at  Shaw  University, 
Raleigh,  N.  C.,  has  a  faculty  composed  of 
Southern  white  men  of  recognized  ability  and 
professional  standing  ;  their  testimony  is  uni 
form  and  emphatic,  that  the  students  master 
the  difficult  subjects  of  the  course,  and  that 
their  graduates  have  no  need  to  blush  when 
they  come  to  take  the  State  examination  which 
admits  them  to  practice  on  precisely  the  same 
terms  as  white  physicians.  The  number  of 
men  who  are  finding  a  career  for  themselves 
and  an  opportunity  for  wide  usefulness  as  phy 
sicians  is  steadily  increasing. 

While  there  is  a  wide-open  door  for  lawyers 
there  are  many  difficulties,  obvious  and  serious, 
tending  to  hinder  the  rapid  increase  of  those 
who  seek  to  earn  a  livelihood  by  practising 
law.  Enough,  however,  have  overcome  these 
difficulties  and  established  their  claim  to  re 
spectful  consideration,  to  warrant  the  conclu 
sion  that  the  legal  profession  will  have  hereafter 
an  increasing  number  of  Negroes  capable  of  at 
tending  to  all  the  ordinary  legal  interests  of 
their  colored  clients.  This  will  probably  re 
sult  in  securing  for  them  a  larger  measure  of 
justice  in  the  courts. 

149 


The  Negro  in  America 

As  yet  they  cannot  be  said  to  be  a  reading 
class.  Their  poverty  and  ignorance,  as  well  as 
their  lack  of  interest  in  public  affairs,  are  hin 
drances  to  the  large  success  of  efforts  to  estab 
lish  journals  upon  a  paying  basis.  Their  news 
papers,  as  a  whole,  are  small  and  are  issued 
weekly  •  they  are  not  published  in  the  best 
style,  and  show  all  the  limitations  which  are  in 
cident  to  a  limited  circulation,  lack  of  sub 
scribers,  and  of  advertising  patronage.  With 
all  its  shortcomings,  no  one,  however,  can  dis 
pute  the  fact  that  the  Negro  press  has  become  a 
power.  Il  affords  an  opportunity  for  the  race 
to  voice  its  highest  aspirations,  to  assert  as  well 
as  to  defend  itself;  and  nothing,  perhaps, 
more  emphatically  marks  the  transition  from 
the  ante  bellum  days  of  slavery  to  the  period 
of  liberty  than  the  fearless  independence  and 
forcefulness  of  its  editorial  utterances.  Negro 
editors  are  at  once  the  proof  and  the  prophecy 
of  Negro  progress. 

To  the  question,  Is  there  a  professional  class 
among  them  ?  I  must  give  a  negative  reply. 
As  has  been  seen,  there  are  teachers,  preach 
ers,  lawyers,  doctors,  and  editors  ;  there  are 
men  of  good  abilities  and  respectable  attain 
ments  ;  but  their  status  as  men  of  learning,  re- 


The  Negroes  Under  Freedom 

sources,  and  effectiveness,  as  independent  fac 
tors  in  promoting  the  progress  of  civilization,  is 
yet  to  be  fixed.  Tanner's  "  Raising  of  Laza 
rus,"  and  Paul  Dunbar's  verses,  are  prophecies 
of  aesthetic  talent. 

It  is  not  so  easy  to  measure,  or  to  state  with 
definiteness,  the  industrial  progress  made  by 

the   Negroes  since  emanci- 

Industrial 

pation.      Slavery  was  a  sys-          Progress 

tern  of  enforced  labor  which 
developed  among  them  no  small  degree  of  in 
dustrial  skill  and  practical  intelligence  as  body 
servants,  domestics,  coachmen,  gardeners, 
farmers,  mechanics,  blacksmiths,  carpenters, 
etc.  A  very  considerable  number  acquired 
valuable  habits,  and  no  small  amount  of  self- 
directing  productive  industry.  Even  in  the 
cotton  fields  and  sugar  plantations,  and  amid 
the  hardest  conditions,  thousands  learned  the 
lesson  of  steady  toil.  For  the  most  part,  how 
ever,  such  labor  was  not  only  compulsory  and 
irksome,  but  was  unaccompanied  by  thrift, 
economy,  or  any  of  the  pleasures  that  are  a 
part  of  the  daily  work  of  free  men. 

When  they  were  set  free,  many  of  them 
naturally  looked  back  upon  labor  as  a  badge  of 
servitude,  and  confounded  their  newly  acquired 


The  Negro  in  America 

freedom  with  idleness.  It  could  hardly  be  ex 
pected  that  four  million  slaves,  suddenly  liber 
ated  from  bondage,  without  capital,  without 
industrial  appliances,  without  experience  in 
self-directed  labor,  should  at  once  become  in 
dustrious,  economical,  thrifty,  and  efficient. 
On  the  whole,  however,  the  transition  from 
slavery  to  freedom  was  characterized  by  less 
retrogression,  idleness,  shiftlessness,  suffering. 
and  pauperism,  than  might  have  been  antici 
pated.  As  a  class  they  have  shown  an  aptitude 
for  self-support.  Their  toil,  while  often  both 
unintelligent  and  unremunerative,  has  been  re 
markably  general  and  constant.  Multitudes 
have  acquired  homes  of  their  own  ;  they  pay 
taxes  upon  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars 
which  they  have  accumulated,  and  they  are 
to-day,  as  they  ever  have  been,  the  chief 
wealth  producers  of  the  South.  In  the  cotton 
fields  and  the  cane  brakes,  on  the  farms,  in  the 
laundry  and  the  kitchen,  on  the  railroads,  in 
the  mines,  and  wherever  service  of  a  rough  and 
unskilled  kind  is  required,  they  are  found  per 
forming  it. 

There  has  been  a  steady  tendency  toward 
eliminating  them  from  the  realm  of  skilled 
labor,  and  wherever  they  come  into  sharp  com- 


The  Negroes  Under  Freedom 

petition  with  white  men  they  are  generally 
forced  to  give  way.  Multitudes  of  them  still 
find  employment,  however,  as  waiters  in  hotels, 
as  porters  on  the  cars,  as  cab  drivers,  and  in 
other  occupations  requiring  more  or  less  intel 
ligence  and  skill,  and  it  is  unquestionably  true 
that  their  education,  with  its  increase  of  gen 
eral  intelligence,  has  improved  the  quality  of 
their  labor  of  all  kinds.  This  is  notably  true 
in  the  matter  of  home  keeping,  although  vast 
improvement  is  yet  possible  and  desirable.  In 
connection  with  almost  all  of  the  schools  of  a 
higher  order,  there  has  been  more  or  less  at 
tention  given  to  what  is  called  industrial  edu 
cation.  Pupils  have  been  required  to  care  for 
their  own  rooms,  to  share  in  keeping  the  school 
buildings  in  proper  order,  and  in  looking  after 
the  yard  and  grounds.  Young  women  have 
been  taught  the  rudiments  of  cooking,  darning, 
sewing,  dressmaking  ;  here  and  there  have  been 
printing  establishments,  where  they  have  been 
instructed  in  the  "  mysterious  art  "  ;  and  occa 
sionally  farms  have  been  worked  in  connection 
with  the  school  by  pupil  labor,  but  not  with 
marked  success.  There  have  been  attempts 
made  to  teach  the  trades,  as  at  Tuskeegee, 
Ala. ,  as  well  as  the  use  of  tools  in  wood  and 
153 


The  Negro  in  America 

iron  work,  as  at  Hampton,  Va. ,  and  Marshall, 
Tex.  As  yet,  however,  no  systematic  scheme 
of  industrial  training,  such  as  is  carried  on  at 
the  Pratt  Institute  of  Brooklyn,  the  Drexel 
Institute  of  Philadelphia,  or  the  School  of 
Technology  in  Boston,  has  been  undertaken. 
Such  schools  need  to  be  established  for  them 
unless  they  are  to  be  permanently  excluded 
from  the  higher  walks  of  industry. 

The  political   status  of  the   Negroes  is  quite 
anomalous.      As  slaves  they  had  no   political 

privileges    whatever,    and, 
Political  Status    J 

with  the  single  and  curious 

exception  that  they  were  reckoned  as  a  factor 
in  determining  the  number  of  congressmen  to 
be  allotted  to  the  slave-holding  States,  they 
were  political  nonentities — not  persons,  but 
property.  When  liberated  from  slavery  they 
were,  necessarily,  wholly  without  experience  in 
the  performance  of  civic  duties,  and  had  no 
true  sense  of  the  responsibilities  attaching  to 
citizenship.  Not  only  this,  but  their  long  sub 
jection  to  the  absolute  dominance  of  the  white 
man  and  their  entire  ignorance  regarding  po 
litical  matters,  being  unable  to  read,  seemed 
to  exclude  them  from  even  the  possibility  of 
sharing  in  political  privileges.  The  conferring 
154 


The  Negroes  Under  Freedom 

upon  them  of  the  right  of  suffrage,  with  all  the 
privileges  and  responsibilities  of  citizenship, 
without  any  preparation  on  their  part,  was  an 
unprecedented,  radical,  and  revolutionary  act, 
full  of  peril  both  to  themselves  and  to  the  re 
public.  Thoughtful  men  at  the  North  as  well 
as  the  South  stood  aghast  at  the  spectacle  of 
giving  over  the  destinies  of  several  Southern 
States  into  the  hands  of  a  horde  of  ignorant, 
degraded,  inexperienced,  suddenly  liberated 
African  slaves.  The  justice  of  this  drastic 
measure  was  stoutly  disputed,  and  its  wisdom 
as  an  act  of  statesmanship  is  still  denied  by 
multitudes  of  thinking  men. 

It  is  impossible,  in  a  brief  outline,  such  as  is 
this,  to  go  into  the  details  of  this  strange  ex 
periment,  and  any  general  statements  that  may 
be  made  regarding  it  will  doubtless  be  open  to 
criticism.  It  is  worthy  of  consideration,  how 
ever,  that  after  the  lapse  of  a  generation,  the 
Negroes  of  the  South,  now  twice  as  many  as 
when  enfranchised,  are  still  nominally  in  pos 
session  of  the  ballot,  and  with  no  marked  pub 
lic  sentiment,  either  North  or  South,  looking 
toward  depriving  them  of  it.  It  is  true  that  in 
some  of  those  States  where  they  greatly  out 
number  the  whites,  or  where  their  numbers  are 


The  Negro  in  America 

such  as  to  make  Negro  dominance  a  menace, 
they  are  largely  deprived  of  the  power  that  is 
supposed  to  attach  to  majorities ;  nowhere  in  the 
South  are  they  in  control.  Over  against  this, 
however,  it  should  be  said  that  tens  of  thousands 
of  Negroes  throughout  the  South  exercise  the 
right  of  suffrage  freely,  and  have  their  votes 
counted.  In  many  of  the  States  they  occupy 
seats  in  the  legislature,  and  fill  other  important 
public  positions.  Political  freedom  is  a  political 
school.  In  no  other  way  than  by  the  exercise 
of  the  rights  of  free  men  could  they  have  ac 
quired  self-consciousness  as  Americans,  and 
have  been  stimulated  to  prepare  themselves  for 
the  discharge  of  the  duties  devolving  upon 
them  as  the  citizens  of  a  free  republic.  Slowly 
but  surely  there  is  coming  to  them  in  its  com 
pleteness  the  recognition  of  their  rights  as  inte 
gral  factors  of  the  commonwealth,  and  this  is  a 
great  gain.  The  fact  of  their  citizenship,  and 
the  conviction  that  it  is  irrevocable,  is  a  potent 
factor  in  securing  for  them  the  benefits  of  the 
public  schools  maintained  by  the  States,  and 
the  advantages  of  the  higher  schools  supported 
by  Christian  philanthropy. 

Since  Frederick  Douglass,  no  Negro  of  com 
manding   ability   has   appeared   as  a  political 

156 


The  Negroes  Under  Freedom 

leader  or  statesman.  Nevertheless,  a  very 
considerable  number  have  filled  high  public 
offices  acceptably,  and  many  have  shown  an 
intelligent  appreciation  of  the  responsibilities 
involved  in  official  position. 

Perhaps  the  severest  test  of  their  progress  in 
civilization    is    their   social    status.      They  are 

surrounded  on    every  side 

Social  Status 

by   a    strong    white    race, 

chiefly  Anglo-Saxon,  accustomed  to  lordship, 
proud  of  its  prestige,  and  with  a  strong  inclina 
tion  to  refuse  to  recognize  the  claims  of  the  Af 
rican  to  any  consideration  other  than  that 
prompted  by  pity  or  general  humanity.  That 
this  spirit  is  relaxing,  however,  and  that  there 
is  a  growing  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
white  people  to  recognize  the  manhood  of  the 
Negroes,  is  evident.  The  commencement  ex 
ercises  at  some  of  the  Negro  schools  are  now 
attended  by  white  people  of  high  social  position, 
who  go,  not  to  gratify  their  curiosity,  least  of 
all  to  express  their  contempt,  but  to  indicate 
their  interest,  appreciation,  and  sympathy.  At 
the  Ministers'  Institutes  held  in  several  South 
ern  States,  under  the  direction  of  Negro  super 
intendents,  the  ablest  white  men  participate 
without  hesitation  as  public  lecturers.  What  the 
157 


The  Negro  in  America 

final  solution  of  the  relation  of  the  races  will 
be  does  not  yet  appear,  but  this  much  is  cer 
tain,  that  manhood,  culture,  worth  of  character, 
and  dignity  of  conduct,  will  assert  themselves 
and  command  respect.  The  Negroes  will  in 
the  end  receive  whatever  is  their  due. 

The  conclusion  reached  by  this  re-study  of 
the  present   status  of  the    eight   million    Ne- 

gr°es>    thirt>'-five 


Summary  r 

after     emancipation,     may 

be  summarized  thus  : 

1.  In  almost  all  the  elements  of  civilization 
the  race,  as  a  whole,  has  made  distinct  progress. 
While  the  condition  of  multitudes  of  them  is 
still  deplorable,  it  is  encouraging  to  note  that 
the  degree  of  illiteracy  among  them  is  less  than 
that  of  the  inhabitants  of  Spain,  who  have  en 
joyed  centuries  of  freedom  and  so-called  civil 
ization. 

2.  The  progress  of  the   Negroes  has  been 
due  to  the  fact  of  their  relationship  to  civilized 
white  men  ;    they  have    shown  a  capacity  to 
adopt    rather    than    to    originate,    to    follow, 
rather  than  to  lead,  to  imitate,  rather  than  to 
create.      Thus  far  they  have   shown  very  little 
ability  to  organize  and  direct,  except  in  local 
and  limited  aifairs. 

158 


The  Negroes  Under  Freedom 

3.  The    supreme   test  of  their   capacity   to 
contend  with  the  white  man,  on  equal  terms, 
is    yet    to  come.      The  struggle  for  industrial 
recognition  and  Yor  political  equality  promises 
to  be  a  bitter  one,  and  the   Negroes  are  badly 
handicapped  in  entering  it. 

4.  What  is  needed    pre-eminently,   to-day, 
to  insure  not  only  the  welfare  and  progress  of 
the  Negroes,  but  the  well-being  of  the  States  in 
which  they  live  and  the  republic  in  its  entirety, 
are:   (i)  The  strengthening  of  the  great  Chris 
tian   schools  established   for   their    benefit    by 
Northern  beneficence  ;    these  are  their   chief 
hope  ;     (2)    the    improvement    of    the    public 
school  system  by  lengthening    the  terms,   ex 
tending  the  period  of  attendance,  and  supply 
ing  them  with  a  large  increase  of  well-trained 
teachers ;    (3)    the    creation    of  a    few    well- 
equipped  industrial  schools  where  men  can  be 
trained  for  leadership. 

5.  There  is  imminent  peril  in   any  scheme 
which  seeks  to  segregate  the   Negroes.      Their 
interests    are    identical    with    the    interests    of 
their  white  fellow-citizens.      Co-operation  has 
in  it  "the  promise  and  the  potency"  of  great 
things  for  the  race. 


159 


VIII 

THE    IDEAL    AMERICAN    REPUBLIC 


THERE  is  a  consensus  of  opinion  among  in 
telligent  Americans  as  to  the  form  of  govern 
ment  and  the  character  of  laws  and  institutions 
which  are  most  desirable  for  us  and  for  our 
neighbors,  for  our  children,  and  ultimately  for 
the  world.  We  cherish  in  common  a  lofty  con 
ception  of  a  free  government,  in  which  every 
citizen  is  a  sovereign,  and  every  sovereign  a  wise, 
patriotic,  and  just  man.  Our  loyalty  is  philan 
thropic,  and  not  selfish  ;  zealous  without  bitter 
ness.  "With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity 
for  all,  with  love  for  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to 
see  the  right,"  we  earnestly  strive  for  the  real 
ization  and  perpetuation  of  an  ideal  republic, 
whose  foundations  are  truth,  and  whose  bless 
ings  are  for  humanity. 


1  The  following  paper  was  not  prepared  originally  for  this  series 
but  is  inserted  here  because  of  the  pertinence  of  the  discussion. 
The  Ideal  Republic  is  based  not  on  race  distinction  but  on  man 
hood.  To  call  this  a  "  white  man's  government "  is  a  denial  of  the 
doctrine  of  human  equality — the  basal  idea  of  our  civilization. 

160 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

We  are  ruled  by  our  ideals.     A  thought  of 
purpose  clearly  conceived  is  a  dominant  force 

in    human    life.      Tell    me 

,       . ,     ,       r        .    ,.     Reasons  for  this 
what  the  ideals  of  an  mdi-         Discussion 

vidual  are,  and  I  will  tell 
you  the  secret  forces  and  controlling  tendencies 
of  his  life.  The  ideals  of  a  people  are  pro 
phetic  of  their  destiny.  The  character  of  the 
government,  or  the  ideal  of  the  republic  which 
the  present  generation  most  strongly  cherishes, 
will  very  largely  determine  the  final  outcome 
of  that  momentous  experiment  of  self-govern 
ment  which  is  now  being  tried  on  so  large  a 
scale  on  this  continent.  We  do  well,  therefore, 
to  examine  that  ideal  with  two  purposes  in 
view  :  first,  to  correct  it  if  it  be  faulty. 

The  thought  of  human  liberty  and  aspiration 
after  freedom  is  as  old  as  the  race,  and  history 
records  no  struggles  which  have  been  more  in 
tense  and  magnificent  than  those  that  have 
been  waged  for  the  attainment  of  these  ends. 
The  difficulties  attending  the  adjustment  of  the 
machinery  of  government  so  as  to  secure  liberty 
for  the  individual  and  safety  and  prosperity  for 
the  masses,  have  ever  been  so  many  and  so 
great  that  the  record  of  the  efforts  to  establish 
free  government  is  largely  a  record  of  failures. 
L  161 


The  Negro  in  America 

Republics  have  arisen  only  to  fall ;  great  victo 
ries  in  the  struggle  for  freedom  have  been  won 
only  to  be  followed  by  disaster  and  defeat ;  and 
freedom  has  lifted  its  voice  only  to  be  drowned 
in  anarchy  and  strangled  in  despotism.  Nev 
ertheless,  there  has  been  progress  running 
through  the  centuries,  and  human  freedom  is 
to-day  more  nearly  within  the  reach  of  the 
common  people  than  ever  before  in  the  history 
of  the  world. 

It  is  perhaps  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
republic  of  the  United  States  at  the  present 
time  more  fully  conforms  to  the  hopes  and  aspi 
rations  of  the  lovers  of  liberty  than  any  govern 
ment  which  has  ever  existed.  The  ideal  of  what 
men  desire  has  become  clearer  and  clearer  as 
time  has  gone  by,  and  they  have  made  suc 
cessive  and  gratifying  steps  in  the  advancement 
toward  its  complete  realization.  Much  remains 
to  be  done,  however,  before  these  lofty  concep 
tions  shall  be  fully  embodied  in  law  and  prac 
tice,  and  it  is,  perhaps,  possible  that  what  men 
are  striving  for  is  not  wholly  attainable.  If  we 
of  to-day  are  cherishing  vague  and  ill-founded 
hopes,  and  are  trying  to  establish  a  government 
that  can  exist  only  in  the  imagination,  that  has 
no  counterpart  in  history,  and  that  must  be 
162 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

always  deluding  and  disappointing  to  us — an 
ignis  fatuus — then  it  is  well  that  we  should 
modify  our  ideals  and  moderate  our  expecta 
tions,  for  an  impossible  Utopia  is  not  worth 
striving  for.  Certainly  nothing  can  be  lost  by 
an  intelligent,  searching  discussion  of  the  ideal 
we  cherish  of  the  possible  republic.  It  will 
make  clearer  to  us  our  thought ;  will  expose 
whatever  of  error  may  be  in  it,  and  will  open 
the  way  for  such  modification  of  our  conceptions 
as  logic  or  fact  may  necessitate.  No  true  ideal 
has  anything  to  fear  from  the  most  rigid  analysis 
or  the  most  critical  examination. 

A  second  reason  for  the  discussion  of  the 
ideal  republic  is  that  it  affords  an  opportunity 
to  discern  the  hindrances  or  dangers  that  may 
lie  in  the  way  of  its  complete  realization.  No 
great  truth  relating  to  human  well-being  ever 
yet  embodied  itself  in  institutions  without  op 
position.  The  history  of  liberty  is  a  history  of 
struggle,  of  conflict,  of  carnage,  of  resistance, 
of  victory,  of  defeat ;  triumph  over  difficulties  ; 
progress  in  spite  of  enemies  ;  success  purchased 
at  enormous  cost.  "Eternal  vigilance  is  the 
price  of  liberty. ' ' 

When  we  scrutinize  our  ideal  of  the  republic 
as  it  ought  to  be  and  contrast  that  ideal  with 
163 


The  Negro  in  America 

the  state  of  things  that  actually  exists  around 
us,  we  shall  be  spurred  to  increased  zeal  in 
behalf  of  all  agencies  that  promise  real  help  in 
bringing  facts  into  harmony  with  theory.  It 
should  kindle  our  enthusiasm  for  liberty. 

When  we  set  over  against  this  ideal  the 
medieval,  despotic  theory  of  a  State  that  still 
finds  among  us  so  many  adherents,  we  shall  be 
startled  at  the  contrast  and  awakened  to  the 
perils  that  beset  us.  Light  has  no  fellowship 
with  darkness.  Liberty  and  despotism  are  im 
placable  foes. 

Standing  as  we  do,  looking  back  over  more 
than  a  century,  tracing  the  progress  that  we 

have  already  made,  taking 
Our  Possible  r  , 

n      .  a  survey  of  the  present  con 

dition  of  affairs  and  of  our 
relations  to  the  future,  we  are  able,  without  the 
assumption  of  any  extraordinary  powers,  to  fore 
cast  the  time — not  far  removed,  as  we  reckon 
historic  periods — when  the  United  States  may 
embrace  even  a  much  larger  territory  than  that 
already  comprised  within  its  magnificent  limits  ; 
when  its  population  will  be  numbered  by  the 
hundreds  of  millions ;  when  its  wealth  will  be 
fabulous  and  its  commerce  enormous ;  and 
when  its  influence  upon  the  world  will  far  sur- 
164 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

pass  that  ever  exerted  by  any  other  nation. 
All  the  signs  of  the  times  and  the  teachings  of 
history  clearly  indicate  the  almost  limitless 
possibilities  in  the  development  of  the  internal 
power  and  the  worldwide  influence  of  this  re 
public.1 

The  ideal  which  many  have  set  before  them 
selves  who  to-day  are  engaged  in  the  active 
work  of  molding  public  opinion,  of  shaping  the 
character  of  our  institutions,  of  determining 
our  destiny,  is  no  narrow  one.  It  is  as  broad 
as  human  liberty,  as  comprehensive  as  the 
varied  human  interests  concerned,  and  as  far- 
reaching  as  our  influence  may  ever  extend.  It 
can  make  very  little  difference  to  those  of  the 
present  generation  who  are  now  actively  en 
gaged  in  the  responsibilities  and  cares  of  life, 
what  conception  of  the  republic  may  ultimately 
obtain  in  the  popular  mind,  and  find  expres 
sion  in  law  and  in  institutions,  because  in  our 
time  no  radical  changes  are  likely,  even  if  they 
are  possible.  Our  liberties  are  secure.  It 
does  concern  future  generations,  however, 
whether  the  institutions  that  we  are  now  es- 


1  This  was  written  before  the  late  Spanish  war  gave  us  Porto 
Rico  directly  and  indirectly  Hawaii.  Will  Cuba  and  the  Philip 
pine  Islands  come  next? 

165 


The  Negro  in  America 

tablishing,  the  laws  that  we  are  enacting,  the 
philosophy  that  we  are  inculcating,  the  spirit 
that  we  are  engendering,  are  to  be  consonant 
with  the  highest  ideal  of  liberty  and  progress, 
or  whether  they  are  such  as  to  bring  about  a 
curtailment  of  their  liberty  or  an  abridgment 
of  their  highest  happiness. 

Our  thinking  of  to-day  is  for  the  future  ;  our 
discussions  are  for  the  benefit  of  unborn  gen 
erations,   and    our  conten- 
Building  for  .      .  . ,     .     , 

the  Future         tlon    1S    for   an    ldeal    that 
concerns  the  race.    We  are 

striving  to  establish  American  institutions  whose 
beneficent  privileges  shall  be  enjoyed  by  suc 
cessive  generations  for  a  thousand  years  to 
come.  In  the  future,  those  who  are  living  in 
the  full  exercise  of  whatever  privileges  or  op 
portunities  are  then  afforded,  will  regard  those 
of  the  present  time  who  are  helping  to  deter 
mine  the  nature  of  our  institutions  either  with 
gratitude  for  the  blessings  they  enjoy,  or  with 
feelings  of  bitterness  or  contempt — if  we  fail 
to  transmit  to  them  these  free  institutions  un 
impaired. 

What,  then,  are  those  fundamental  concep 
tions  which  underlie  our  experiment  of  self- 
government,   and  which  we  believe  ought  to 
166 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

give  character  to  our  nation  and  its  institutions  ? 

What,  in  broad  outline,  is  the  Ideal  Republic  ? 

The   first  element  is  the  sovereignty  of  the 

people.     The  fundamental    truth    is  that  the 

government  derives  its  pow- 

f         , ,  - . ,  Source  of 

ers  from  the  consent  of  the  p 

governed.  The  people  are 
sovereigns.  A  republic  is  self-governed.  It 
"  is  a  government  of  the  people,  for  the  people, 
and  by  the  people."  It  is  the  assertion  of  the 
radical  doctrine  of  the  inherent  right  of  the 
people  to  govern  themselves.  There  is  here  a 
denial  of  the  fiction  of  the  "divine  right  of 
kings."  Government  is  simply  an  expression 
of  the  will  of  the  governed  ;  and  those  who, 
for  the  time  being,  exercise  rule  or  authority, 
do  it,  not  by  virtue  of  their  own  right,  nor  by 
the  law  of  inheritance,  nor  by  divine  appoint 
ment,  but  because  of  the  simple  fact  that  they 
have  been  chosen  by  the  free  suffrages  of  the 
people  as  their  representatives  or  rulers  to  ex 
ercise  the  power  temporarily  delegated  to  them 
for  the  benefit  of  those  who  confer  it.  The 
people  who  elect  rulers  to-day  can,  in  accord 
ance  with  the  terms  of  the  Constitution  which 
they  themselves  prescribe,  elect  another  set 
to-morrow  to  take  their  places  and  to  exercise 
167 


The  Negro  in  America 

full  authority  during  their  term  of  office.  Ac 
cording  to  this  conception,  there  can  be  no 
such  thing  as  royalty  or  aristocracy,  and  conse 
quently,  no  such  broad  distinction  between  the 
people  and  their  rulers  as  necessarily  obtains 
in  monarchical,  aristocratical,  or  hierarchical 
governments.  The  people  are  kings  and 
rulers  ;  their  will  is  law.  The  proud  monarch 
proclaims  himself  the  State  ;  the  highest  offi 
cials  in  a  republic  are  the  servants  of  the 
people.  We,  the  people,  ordain  constitu 
tions,  make  legislatures,  establish  courts,  cre 
ate  judges,  elect  governors,  constitute  armies, 
levy  taxes,  regulate  and  execute  laws.  We  sit 
on  juries,  and  are  entitled  to  trial  by  our  peers. 
Our  liberties  are  in  our  own  keeping,  our  rights 
are  inviolate,  our  homes  are  our  castles.  We 
call  no  man  lord,  because  we  ourselves  are  the 
sources  of  power.  The  great  chasm  between 
the  government  and  the  people,  as  two  separate 
forces  with  distinct  and  conflicting  interests,  is 
filled  up  and  sodded  over.  The  people  are 
themselves  the  government.  There  can  be, 
according  to  this  idea,  no  privileged  classes,  no 
haughty  monarchs,  no  blue-blood  aristocrats, 
no  titled  nobility,  no  arrogant  hierarchy :  no 
distinctions  based  on  race  or  color. 
168 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

Growing  out  of  this  fundamental  conception, 
and  necessarily  connected  with  it,  is  the  doc 
trine  of  equal  rights.  The 

,      c  -.      -r\    -i  Human 

ringing  words  of  the  Decla-          Equality 

ration  of  Independence 
that  "all  men  are  created  equal,"  sweep  away 
at  one  stroke  all  class  distinctions  and  recognize 
the  far- reach  ing  principle  that  in  the  eye  of  the 
law,  as  members  of  the  commonwealth,  the 
rights  of  one  man  are  just  as  sacred  as  those  of 
another.  However  men  may  differ  in  intel 
lectual  endowments,  in  moral  character,  in 
possessions,  color,  or  social  position,  polit 
ically  they  are  equal.  The  vote  of  one  man 
has  the  same  weight  as  that  of  another  man  ; 
the  vote  of  the  laborer  goes  just  as  far  as  that 
of  the  capitalist  in  fixing  the  character  of  the 
government  under  which  he  lives  and  in  deter 
mining  the  persons  who  are  to  exercise  author 
ity.  This  truth  blots  out  at  once  all  distinctions 
growing  out  of  race,  color,  or  condition,  and 
lays  broad,  deep,  enduring  foundations  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  essential  dignity  of  human 
nature.  Whatever  artificial  or  incidental  con 
ditions  may  separate  men  socially  or  financially, 
"a  man's  a  man  for  a'  that."  This  recogni 
tion  of  the  inherent  dignity  of  the  soul,  this 
169 


The  Negro  in  America 

radical  doctrine  of  human  equality,  this  em 
phatic  declaration  of  the  right  of  each  and 
every  man  to  his  own  life,  liberty,  and  pursuit 
of  happiness,  as  embodied  in  the  fundamental 
charter  which  underlies-  our  political  super 
structure,  marks  a  tremendous  advance  in  the 
progressive  civilization  of  the  race. 

This  great  doctrine  of  human  equality  fur 
nishes  the  basis  of  a  true  socialism.      The  con 
sciousness  among  the  toiling 
A  True 
„     .  ..  masses  of  their  own  inherent 

worth  as  men,  and  the  deep- 
seated  aspirations  cherished  by  many  of  them 
for  better  conditions,  underlies  much  of  the 
unrest  of  our  times,  and  is  slowly  but  surely 
working  out  great  revolutions  in  social  rela 
tions,  industrial  conditions,  and  political  insti 
tutions.  We  are  rapidly  passing  through  suc 
cessive  stages  of  a  mighty  change,  and  are 
tending  toward  a  form  of  socialism  that  has  in 
it  the  ''promise  and  potency"  of  a  vast  ame 
lioration  of  economic  evils,  social  inequalities, 
and  political  disabilities.  Equal  rights  is  a 
mighty  solvent  of  the  problems  of  discontent. 
Another  way  of  stating  the  doctrine  of  equal 
rights,  is  to  say  that  our  Republic  rests  upon 
individualism.  The  individual  is  the  political 
170 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

unit.      Each  man  stands  or  falls  for  himself. 
It  does  not  matter,  so  far  as  the  conception 

of  his  rights  is  concerned, 

Individualism 

whether  he  is  wise  or  ig 
norant,  strong  or  weak,  rich  or  poor,  white, 
black,  or  red,  he  stands  for  what  he  is — an  in 
dividual,  a  personality  whose  rights  and  privi 
leges  are  as  dear  to  him  as  are  those  of  any 
other  person  in  the  world.  For  political  pur 
poses  he  stands  alone  ;  his  personality  is  invio 
late  ;  his  rights  are  sacred.  Within  his  own 
domain  he  is  an  autocrat.  The  emperor  upon 
his  throne  is  not  more  complete  in  himself  than 
the  humblest  voter  in  a  republic.  The  indi 
vidual  is  endowed  with  all  the  essential  attri 
butes  of  humanity.  He  has  intellect,  con 
science,  and  will.  He  is  himself  an  epitome 
of  man.  Whatever  concerns  humanity  con 
cerns  him ;  whatever  affects  human  rights 
affects  his  rights ;  whatever  enhances  human 
dignity  enhances  his  dignity.  Whatever  limits, 
dwarfs,  or  hinders  the  race,  equally  and  in  the 
same  manner,  ceteris  paribus,  affects  him ; 
whatever  principles  of  justice  apply  to  the 
masses  of  people  apply  to  him  individually. 
Politically  he  calls  no  man  master ;  acknowl 
edges  no  authority  greater  than  his  own.  He 
171 


The  Negro  in  America 

recognizes  no  caste  from  which  he  is  rightfully 
excluded,  no  class  that  has  rights  or  privileges 
that  he  cannot  aspire  to  ;  and  he  submits  to  no 
limitations  of  his  liberty  that  are  not  necessi 
tated  by  consideration  for  the  liberties  and 
rights  of  his  fellow-men. 

Man,  created  in  the  image  of  his  Maker,  is 
complete  in  himself.    He  is  a  free  moral  agent, 

capable  of  choice  and  com- 
The  Dignity  of  f         ir 

Human  Nature     Petent  for  self-government. 

He  is  responsible  directly  to 
God  for  his  conduct  and  character,  and  no 
man  can  stand  between  him  and  the  judgment 
to  come  ;  he  must  appear  for  himself  before  his 
Maker  and  "give  an  account  of  the  deeds 
done  in  the  body."  No  human  daysman  can 
interpose  as  advocate  ;  he  must  bear  his  own 
burden.  This  is  the  plain  teaching  of  Scrip 
ture,  that  sets  forth  man's  autonomy  as  a  moral 
being  and  his  responsibility  as  a  free  agent. 

Our  theory  of  government  gives  to  man  po 
litically  the  same  status  that  the  Bible  gives  to 
him  morally  and  religiously.  He  is  a  political 
entity ;  an  independent  citizen  ;  must  act  as  an 
individual,  and  bear  the  responsibility  of  those 
actions.  He  is  entitled  to  that  freedom  which 
ensures  him  the  fullest  unfolding  of  all  his  pow- 
172 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

ers,  the  largest  exercise  possible  of  all  his  nor 
mal  activities,  the  greatest  practicable  enjoy 
ment  of  the  pleasures  he  most  desires,  and  the 
widest  career  that  is  compatible  with  his  rela 
tions  to  his  fellow-men.  Then  the  responsibility 
for  his  action  must  rest  with  himself.  If  he 
makes  mistakes  he  must  surfer  the  conse 
quences.  If  he  will  not  work  neither  shall 
he  eat.  If  he  violates  law  or  interferes  with 
the  rights  of  his  neighbor  he  must  surfer  pun 
ishment.  No  plea  of  ignorance  will  avail  him. 
He  cannot  hide  behind  any  society,  or  screen 
himself  by  any  plea  of  coercion  or  oath  of 
obedience.  He  is  a  subject  of  the  Republic, 
a  citizen  of  the  nation  which  has  enfranchised 
and  ennobled  him.  Each  American  voter 
walks  erect  among  his  fellow-citizens,  the  peer 
of  the  noblest  and  the  equal  of  the  highest. 

As  one  of  the  sovereign  people,  the  source 
of  political  power,  a  constituent  member  of  the 

body  politic   for  which    all 

,     n         .      .       .     The  Man  Greater 
power  and  all  authority  is    Than  the  of(ice 

exercised,  an  integral  ele 
ment  of  government  itself,  he  not  only  has  all 
the  rights  that  pertain  to  the  most  favored  pri 
vate  citizen,  but  he  himself  may  aspire  to  the 
highest  office  ;  a  sovereign  de  jure,  he  may  be- 
173 


The  Negro  in  America 

come  a  sovereign  de  facto,  by  the  free  suffrage 
of  his  fellow-citizens.  Aspiration  after  high 
political  honors  and  power  is  entirely  conso 
nant  with  his  position  as  an  equal  member  of 
the  Republic.  This  doctrine  confers  upon  him 
the  highest  dignity.  His  simple  manhood  is 
his  title  to  respect.  Exalted  ability  or  excep 
tional  attainment — by  virtue  of  which  he  may 
be  elected  to  office — enables  him  to  confer 
dignity  upon  the  place  which  he  is  called  to 
fill,  if  he  fills  his  office  with  ability  and 
fidelity,  and  when  he  lays  aside  the  temporary 
authority  with  which  he  may  be  clothed,  he 
loses  none  of  his  dignity,  but  returns  to  private 
life  with  the  consciousness  that  the  man  is 
greater  than  the  office. 

If  there  is  any  institution  upon  which  rests 
the  special  divine  favor,  it  is  the  family.     God 

has  constituted  the    home 
The  Autonomy  ,         ,         .       .  .  .    . 

of  the  Family      as  the  sPhere  m  whlch  1S  to 
be  developed  many  of  the 

sweetest  graces  of  womanhood  and  strongest 
virtues  of  manhood.  The  relation  of  husband 
and  wife,  of  parents  and  children,  of  brother 
and  sister,  are  peculiarly  tender  and  strong. 
It  is  in  the  family  that  children  are  to  learn  to 
be  affectionate,  patient,  helpful,  respectful  to 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

age,  tender  to  helplessness,  obedient  to  au 
thority,  and  reverent  toward  God.  The  father 
is  the  founder  of  the  family,  the  head  of  the 
household,  the  priest  of  the  home  circle.  The 
mother  is  the  helpmeet  for  him.  Within  the 
sphere  of  the  home  they  should  be  supreme. 
No  external  power  should  obtrude  itself  into 
its  sacred  precincts.  The  parents,  as  long  as 
they  are  competent  and  willing  to  discharge 
aright  their  parental  obligations,  should  be  left 
free  to  follow  their  own  choice  as  to  the  educa 
tion  and  training  of  their  children. 

The  doctrine  of  individualism  recognizes  the 
inestimable  value  to  the  individual  of  associa 
tion  with  his  fellows.  Man 

,         ,  .     ,  .  ,  Value  of 

never    reaches    his  highest  _     . 

development  intellectually 
or  religiously,  or  achieves  his  greatest  successes, 
apart  from  society.  The  anchorite  is  doomed 
to  failure.  Monasticism  is  a  perversion  of  life. 
Men  need  the  attrition  that  comes  from  active 
association  with  other  men  in  business  ;  each 
sex  needs  the  constant  influence  of  the  other. 
The  art  of  living  together  is  one  of  man's 
noblest  achievements.  Sociology  is  a  science 
second  in  importance  only  to  theology.  The 
great  thing  to  be  insisted  upon  is  that  society 
175 


The  Negro  in  America 

shall  be  free  to  form  and  reform  on  planes  of 
ascending  development. 

But  these  facts  in  no  wise  militate  against  the 
great  truth  here  stated,  that  the  relation  be 
tween  the  citizen  and  the  Republic  is  a  personal, 
individual  relation.  He  is  recognized  by  the 
government  under  which  he  lives  as  a  man, 
capable  of  performing  a  man's  duties,  and  of 
exercising  a  man's  privileges.  It  confers  upon 
him  the  dignity  of  citizenship,  and  it  has  a  right 
to  his  personal  loyalty.  Individualism  bestows 
honor  and  imposes  obligations. 

Whatever  subordinate  relations  he  sustains 
to  his  family,  his  associates,  or  to  society,  his 
prime  allegiance  is  to  the  Republic.  He  is 
first  of  all  an  American.  He  hoists  no  other 
flag  above  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 

Man  was  born  for  freedom  ;  his  highest  in 
tellectual  and  spiritual  development,  indeed, 
the  perfection  of  his  man- 


tially  upon  his  liberty.  He 
should,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  free  from  all 
external  restraints.  His  actions  should  be 
self-originated,  self-controlled,  and  should  be 
unrestricted  just  as  far  as  the  circumstances  by 
which  he  is  surrounded  will  admit.  One  of  his 
176 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

characteristics  as  an  individual,  a  personality, 
a  moral  being,  is  freedom  in  choosing  his  own 
vocation,  determining  his  own  activities,  select 
ing  his  own  companions,  deciding  upon  his 
own  home,  educating  his  own  children,  set 
tling  his  own  creed,  and  electing  his  own 
rulers.  In  as  far  as  he  is  restricted  in  his  lib 
erty  he  is  robbed  of  his  birthright ;  and  in  as 
far  as  he  weakly  and  voluntarily  surrenders  his 
own  freedom  to  another  he  emasculates  himself. 

Liberty  is  not  license.  Freedom  is  conduct 
self-regulated  in  conformity  with  reason  and 
the  eternal  verities  of  the  universe.  Only  a 
moral  being  can  be  free,  and  morality  implies 
responsibility. 

Of  course,  when  men  live  in  communities 
there  must  be  restriction  by  government — 

some    rule    of    action    that 

,,        .  ,  ,      c    Government  a 
shall  preserve  the  rights  of         ,T 

Necessity 

the  community  on  the  one 

hand  and  the  rights  of  the  individual  on  the 
other.  Men  living  together  can  no  more  dis 
pense  with  government  than  they  can  dispense 
with  air  ;  it  is  a  condition  of  society.  The  ne 
cessity  of  some  regulative  power,  of  some  re 
strictive  agency,  of  some  authoritative  execu 
tion  of  punishment  for  wrong-doing,  grows  out 
M  177 


The  Negro  in  America 

of  man's  ignorance,  selfishness,  and  other  nat 
ural  limitations.  Anarchy,  which  rebels  against 
all  law  and  denies  the  necessity  of  any  govern 
ment,  is  wholly  irrational,  ignoring  as  it  does 
the  essential  nature  of  man  and  the  plainest 
teachings  of  history.  In  its  revolt  against  the 
cruelty  of  despotism  it  swings  to  the  opposite 
extreme  of  no  government,  and  for  the  op 
pression  of  the  tyrant  or  the  misrule  of  the 
legal  authorities  it  would  substitute  the  savage 
fury  of  the  mob.  Because  governments  are 
imperfect  it  would  utterly  abolish  them.  It 
would  destroy  the  sun  to  get  rid  of  the  spots 
on  its  surface.  Mobs  are  symptoms  of  political 
rottenness.  Anarchists  are  the  haters  of  gov 
ernment  and  the  enemies  of  freedom. 

Men  have  an  unbounded  right  to  combine 
for  just  purposes  and  to  use  righteous  means  to 
obtain  them.  Trades  unions,  labor  organiza 
tions,  combinations  of  capitalists,  are  praise 
worthy,  as  long  as  permeated  by  justice.  But 
the  individual  laborer — mechanic,  business 
man,  or  capitalist — has  the  right  of  liberty  in 
disposing  of  his  labor,  his  skill,  or  his  capital. 
When  trusts  ruthlessly  crush  out  the  small  capi 
talist,  and  labor  unions  resort  to  violence  to 
prevent  individuals  working  to  earn  bread  for 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

their  families,  they  do  violence  to  the  great 
doctrine  of  individualism. 

Government,  however,  does  not  exist  for  its 
own  sake  ;  its  only  raison  d'etre  being  its  utility 
as  an   agency  for   the    ad 
vancement  of  the  common     Government  a 

welfare  and  the  promotion       . .   .  ean^ 

Not  an  End 

of  individual  prosperity.    If 

all  men  were  wise,  moral,  and  strong,  there 
certainly  would  be  need  of  less  government 
than  there  is  now ;  but  as  long  as  they  are  ig 
norant,  selfish,  and  weak,  there  will  continue 
to  be,  for  their  own  sakes,  as  well  as  for  the 
good  of  the  community,  the  necessity  of  a  cen 
tral  power  of  regulation.  Just  as  soon,  how 
ever,  as  this  central  power  arrogates  to  itself 
undue  importance,  or  seeks  self-aggrandizement 
at  the  expense  of  the  people,  it  becomes  an 
impertinence  and  an  evil  to  be  remedied  or 
removed. 

Returning  to  the  idea  of  liberty,  let  us  ask, 
What  is  meant  by  liberty  ?  What  are  the  ele 
ments  that  enter  into  the 

conception  of  human  free-          A  f  ,     ^ . 

Analyzed 

dom? 

Free  Thought,      The  first,  most  obviously,  is 
freedom   of  thought.      Man  is  an  intellectual 
179 


The  Negro  in  America 

being  and  every  normal  individual  possesses  all 
that  is  necessary  to  constitute  him  an  indepen 
dent  thinker.  He  is  endowed  with  powers  of 
observation,  self-consciousness,  memory,  imagi 
nation,  logical  faculties,  and  is  able  to  observe, 
analyze,  compare,  and  decide  for  himself  all 
the  ordinary  questions  that  present  themselves 
to  his  mind  and  call  for  judgment  as  the  basis 
of  action. 

Of  course  he  is  limited  by  the  ineradicable 
distinctions  between  truth  and  error  which  he 
cannot,  by  any  process  of  thought,  change. 
The  axioms  of  mathematics,  the  laws  of 
physics,  and  the  established  rules  of  philosophy, 
are  not  the  products  of  the  human  mind,  but 
of  the  divine  mind  ;  and  a  man  in  his  thinking 
is  necessarily  limited  by  the  laws  of  thought 
and  the  facts  of  creation.  Within  these  limits, 
however,  he  should  have  great  freedom  ;  in 
deed,  there  can  be  no  thinking,  properly  so 
called,  which  is  not  free.  The  acceptance  of 
propositions  formulated  by  others  does  not 
necessarily  imply  thinking.  Faith,  in  so  far  as 
it  is  merely  an  assent  to  an  intellectual  dogma, 
or  the  acceptance  of  the  result  of  another's 
thinking,  without  an  understanding  of  its  pro 
cesses,  is  not  an  attribute  of  freedom.  To 
180 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

think  is  to  bring  one's  self  into  immediate  con 
tact  with  facts  and  truths,  and  to  see  for  one's 
self  the  relations  that  facts  and  thoughts  sustain 
to  each  other  and  that  premises  sustain  to  con 
clusions.  Free  thought  is  one  of  our  most 
precious  privileges,  and  any  limitations  laid 
upon  its  exercise  is  a  curbing  of  our  liberty,  an 
abridgment  of  our  manhood,  a  species  of  en 
slavement.  No  man  is  free  who  is  forced  to 
blindly  accept  the  conclusions  of  another  man's 
reasoning.  Every  free  man  creates  his  own 
creed. 

The  Historic  Spirit.  I,  of  course,  recognize 
the  fact  that  any  intelligent  thinker  will  be 
helped  by  other  men's  thinking,  and  that  all 
progress  in  thought,  whether  in  the  line  of 
science,  philosophy,  or  religion,  is  immensely 
aided  by  a  genuine  historic  spirit,  and  that  no 
one  who  seeks  a  firm  foundation  in  great  ques 
tions  can  afford  to  ignore  the  work  already  done 
in  the  line  of  his  investigations  by  the  great 
minds  that  have  preceded  him.  No  man,  with 
any  safety,  can  break  violently,  suddenly,  or 
capriciously  with  the  past.  Nevertheless,  every 
individual,  in  as  far  as  his  capacities  will  allow 
and  his  circumstances  will  admit,  should,  be 
fore  adopting  them  as  his  own,  re-think  the 
181 


The  Negro  in  America 

thoughts  of  other  men,  examine  the  relations 
of  their  conclusions  to  their  premises,  and  de 
cide  for  himself  as  to  the  soundness  of  their 
reasonings.  In  other  words,  every  man  should 
put  the  stamp  of  his  own  originality  on  every 
article  of  his  belief;  but  whether  he  can  do 
this,  or  is  willing  to  do  it,  the  great  and  unde 
niable  truth — the  truth  for  which  I  most  ear 
nestly  contend — remains,  that  he  should  be 
free  to  do  so.  Freedom  of  thought  is  his  in 
alienable  right,  and  is  that  for  which  he  should 
battle  as  for  his  life. 

If  it  should  be  said  that  men  are  incapable 
of  thinking  for  themselves,  and  must  therefore 
accept  the  formulas  elaborated  for  them  by  au 
thority,  I  answer  that  such  creeds  have  about 
the  same  value  for  them  that  a  sword  has  for  a 
man  without  hands. 

If  it  be  said  that  men  who  attempt  to  think 
for  themselves  may  fall  into  error  and  be  led 
astray,  I  reply,  that  to  profess  to  believe  what 
one  does  not  understand,  and  to  accept  a  creed 
as  an  act  of  obedience,  is  to  be  very  far  astray 
and  involved  in  most  hurtful  error.  Nothing 
could  be  more  irrational  than  to  assert  that 
"we  believe  a  thing  because  it  is  absurd." 
This  is  to  make  a  denial  of  the  trustworthiness 
182 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

of  our  mental  processes,  the  basis  of  our  high 
est  mental  attainments.  We  declare  ourselves 
fools  in  order  that  we  may  be  accounted  wise. 

A  Free  Bible,  Recognizing  as  I  do  the  in 
comparable  place  occupied  by  the  sacred  Scrip 
tures  as  the  inspired  word  of  God,  given  for 
man's  spiritual  illumination,  I  lay  special  stress 
upon  the  right  of  every  man  to  read  that  great 
book  for  himself.  The  Bible  should  be  free. 
The  right  of  private  interpretation  should  be 
sacred.  No  other  book  ever  wrought  so  pow 
erfully  for  the  enfranchisement  of  the  race  as 
has  the  Bible.  No  people  can  be  permanently 
enslaved  who  are  familiar  with  its  pages  and 
animated  by  its  spirit.  The  Bible  is  the  great 
charter  of  human  liberty.  The  enemies  of 
freedom  hate  the  Bible.  The  progress  of  soul 
liberty  received  a  vast  impulse  when  Wycliffe, 
Luther,  and  others  gave  it  to  the  common 
people,  translating  it  into  their  mother  tongue. 

Free  Speech.  Closely  connected  with  free 
dom  of  thought  is  freedom  of  speech  ;  for  it  is 
just  as  necessary  for  a  man  to  give  utterance 
to  his  thought  as  it  is  for  him  to  think  it ;  in 
deed,  thought  in  any  wide,  true  sense,  is  prac 
tically  impossible  without  communication  with 
other  minds.  It  is  of  little  avail  to  me  that  I 


The  Negro  in  America 

am  untrammeled  in  thought,  if  I  may  not  bring 
myself,  by  means  of  my  thinking,  into  soul  re 
lationship  with  my  fellow-beings.  If  I  have 
arrived  at  some  great  truth,  it  is  my  privilege, 
if  not  my  duty,  to  communicate  the  truth  to 
those  about  me.  If  I  am  in  doubt  as  to  my 
own  processes  or  acts,  the  results  of  my  own 
observations  and  reasoning,  it  is  my  right  to 
confer  with  those  about  me,  either  privately  or 
publicly,  and  to  seek,  by  their  assistance,  to 
test  my  conclusions,  the  validity  of  my  thought, 
or  by  their  aid  to  modify  my  views. 

Limits  of  Free  Speech.  Of  course  there  are 
practical  limitations  to  the  freedom  of  speech. 
The  State  should  protect  the  reputation  of  its 
subjects,  and  it  must  preserve  its  own  existence. 
Mobs  are  intolerable,  and  speeches  that  incite 
to  riot  and  murder  justly  subject  the  speakers 
to  the  danger  of  arrest  and  punishment  as  dis 
turbers  of  the  peace.  There  must  be  due 
vigilance  in  the  maintenance  of  public  order, 
but  it  may  and  should  be  used  without  any  in 
fringement  of  true  freedom  of  speech.  Govern 
ment,  generally,  is  perhaps  more  liable  to  err 
on  the  side  of  severity  than  on  that  of  laxity. 
The  blasphemies  of  infidels,  the  tirades  of  sand- 
lot  orators,  and  the  wild  utterances  of  anarchists, 
184 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

are  less  to  be  dreaded  than  is  the  brutal  force 
of  a  czar  suppressing  free  speech. 

Freedom  of  speech  for  men  who  are  neces 
sarily  limited  in  their  powers,  and  are  feeling 
their  way  toward  wise  conclusions,  is  essentia.1 
for  the  common  progress  of  the  race  in  its  pur^ 
suit  after  truth.  Without  free  speech  intel 
lectual  progress  would  be  confined  largely  to 
individuals  ;  by  means  of  it  the  conclusions 
reached  by  the  few  become  the  possession  of 
the  many,  and  the  progress  of  the  one  great 
thinker  becomes  the  stimulus  for  the  advance 
ment  of  the  multitude. 

Unnecessary  rigor  in  suppressing  open-air 
meetings,  violence  used  to  punish  or  intimidate 
men  from  speaking  the  truth,  are  crimes  against 
liberty.  Any  institution  or  cause  that  cannot 
endure  the  light  of  the  nineteenth  century 
should  retire  to  the  darkness  of  the  fifteenth. 

Freedom  of  debate  is  not  a  meaningless 
phrase  to  juggle  with.  It  is  a  great  weapon  for 
exposing  error,  refuting  falsehood,  removing 
prejudice,  uncovering  fallacies,  establishing 
truth,  and  awakening  enthusiasm  for  it. 

A  Free  Press.  Closely  allied  to  freedom  of 
speech,  and,  indeed,  separable  from  it  only  by 
an  arbitrary  line  of  distinction,  is  the  liberty  of 

185 


The  Negro  in  America 

the  press.  If  I  have  a  right  to  utter  my 
thoughts  privately  to  others,  or  in  public  dis 
cussion  or  discourse,  I  have  the  right  to  print 
them  in  the  columns  of  newspaper,  tract, 
magazine,  or  book.  Libraries  are  the  great 
storehouses  of  thought  which  register  the 
achievements  ol  individuals  and  of  the  race. 
They  are  among  the  mightiest  monuments  of 
human  greatness,  and  are  the  most  valuable 
treasures  handed  down  by  one  generation  to 
another.  They  are  the  milestones  marking  the 
advance  of  the  race  in  its  search  after  truth ; 
the/<7«  in  which  are  collected  the  great  lights 
of  all  places  and  of  all  ages ;  the  fountains  to 
which  each  succeeding  generation  goes  to  drink 
from  the  treasured  store  gathered  for  them  in 
the  centuries  past.  They  are  the  centers  of 
ever-widening,  radiating  influence  ;  the  indis 
pensable  aids  to  progress;  and  to  interpose 
any  obstacle  in  the  way  of  making  books  is  to 
throw  obstruction  in  the  upward  pathway  of  the 
race.  An  index  expurgatorius  is  a  shackle 
upon  the  development  of  civilization.  No  man 
is  as  wise  as  all  men  ;  no  party  knows  as  much 
as  all  parties  ;  no  ancient  ever  stood  on  the 
same  high  level  as  the  moderns.  This  age  is 
wiser  than  all  preceding  ages ;  the  men  of  to- 
186 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

day  are  better  prepared  to  sit  in  judgment  on 
any  question  of  interest  to  human  thought  than 
the  men  of  any  other  generation.  Those  that 
come  after  us  will  be  wiser  than  we  are.  To 
attempt  to  hinder  the  advancement  of  thought 
by  limiting  the  liberty  of  the  press  is  an  at 
tempt  to  fly  in  the  face  of  God  himself.  He 
created  man  in  his  own  image  ;  implanted 
within  him  an  insatiable  thirst  for  knowledge  ; 
inspired  him  with  an  irrepressible  desire  not 
only  to  know  and  to  think,  but  also  to  commu 
nicate  his  thought,  and  to  put  it  into  perma 
nent  shape  for  the  benefit  of  future  generations. 

It  hardly  needs  to  be  added  that  the  freedom 
of  the  press,  the  unrestricted  right  to  make 
books  that  contain  discussions  of  all  kinds  of 
questions — political,  philosophical,  scientific, 
social,  theological — does  not  imply  that  men 
are  at  liberty  to  make  and  circulate  immoral 
literature  for  the  corruption  of  the  young,  but 
it  does  remove  the  ban  from  books  that  may 
be  regarded  as  false  in  doctrine  or  unsound  in 
teaching. 

The  freedom  of  the  press,  so  characteristic  of 

our  country  to-day,  is  one  of  the  safeguards  of 

liberty  and  one  of  the  strongest  aids  in  our 

progress.     The  great  secular  dailies  and  relig- 

187 


The  Negro  in  America 

ious  weeklies  stimulate  intellectual  activity, 
foster  intelligence,  and  assist  in  creating  a 
sound  public  opinion  on  all  the  vital  questions 
of  the  hour. 

Whenever  the  press  is  palsied  by  the  touch 
of  intolerance  or  of  fear  it  loses  its  freedom,  its 
power,  its  usefulness.  A.  muzzled  press  in  a 
free  country  is  an  anachronism. 

Liberty  of  Conscience.  Not  less  important 
than  either  of  the  elements  mentioned  is  free 
dom  of  conscience.  Every  moral  creature 
must  determine  his  own  activity  ;  an  activity 
controlled  from  without  ceases  to  be  moral. 
When  we  perform  an  action  under  restraint  it 
is  not  our  own  action ;  we  are  no  longer  free 
men,  but  slaves.  In  its  final  analysis  every 
moral  action  rests  upon  the  deliverance  of  con 
science,  and  freedom  is  simply  the  power  that 
I  have  to  act  in  accordance  with  that  deliver 
ance.  If  I  do  that  which  it  condemns  I  wrong 
my  own  nature,  do  violence  to  the  fundamental 
conception  of  freedom,  and  recognize  myself 
as  no  longer  a  moral  being,  but  an  immoral 
one,  doing  slavishly  the  behests  of  another. 
No  act  of  mine  and  no  line  of  conduct  can  be 
of  any  avail  to  me,  except  it  be  the  outgrowth 
of  my  own  conviction  of  its  righteousness. 
188 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

Freedom  of  Worship.  The  people  of  the 
United  States,  in  amending  the  Constitution 
so  as  to  prohibit  the  establishment  of  religion 
by  the  government,  took  a  great  stride  forward 
in  securing  the  establishment  of  soul  liberty — 
the  essence  of  all  freedom.  Any  governmental 
infringement  of  the  right  of  the  individual  to 
worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his 
own  conscience  is  an  invasion  of  the  very  cita 
del  of  his  manhood. 

Worship  of  the  Almighty  God  is  a  spiritual 
act,  not  a  formal  one  ;  consists  in  right  attitudes 

of  the    heart,   and    not  in 

a     4.-  c  4.u     v,   j          Spirituality  of 

genuflections  of  the  body.          Worship 

It  expresses  the  relationship 
that  the  individual  sustains  directly  and  imme 
diately  with  his  Maker,  and  there  can,  by  no 
possibility,  be  any  intermediary.  The  moment 
the  so-called  act  of  worship  is  controlled  by  a 
third  person,  or  influenced  by  any  object,  it 
ceases  to  be  worship  and  becomes  form.  Man 
as  a  spiritual  being  is  closely  allied  to  the  Spirit 
that  made  him,  and  finds  his  highest  privilege 
in  spiritual  relationship  with  his  Father  in 
heaven.  Nothing  can  take  the  place  of  per 
sonal  communion  between  the  spiritual  man 
and  the  Divine  Spirit.  The  act  of  worship, 
189 


The  Negro  in  America 

in  order  to  be  genuine,  must  be  free  ;  for  when 
it  ceases  to  be  free  it  ceases  to  be  worship. 
Unless  it  is  spontaneous  and  correctly  repre 
sents  the  man's  individual  religious  experience, 
his  own  deep-seated  convictions,  hopes,  and 
aspirations,  it  loses  its  significance.  * '  God  is 
a  spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him  must  wor 
ship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth. ' ' 

God  only  can  forgive  sins.  Forgiveness  is 
the  prerogative  of  Deity — the  moral  judge  of 
the  universe.  God  alone  is  the  one  in  whom 
inheres  divine  attributes.  He  only  is  worthy 
to  be  adored.  He  only  can  hear  prayer.  He 
only  can  answer  prayer — he  that  hath  made  us 
and  redeemed  us,  who  feeds,  clothes,  and  sus 
tains  us,  "in  whom  we  live,  move,  and  have 
our  being."  The  only  true  God  is  to  be 
feared  and  worshiped.  I  must  worship  him 
for  myself.  I  must  make  my  confession  to 
him  ;  pay  my  vows  to  him  and  him  only. 

The  right  to  do  this,  according  to  the  dictates 
of  his  own  conscience,  is  one  of  the  most  sacred 
prerogatives  of  man,  and  the  abridgment  of 
that  right  is  an  irreparable  injury.  Whatever 
tends  to  mar  the  reality  of  worship,  or  to  sub 
stitute  for  the  spontaneous  spiritual  outgoing 
of  the  individual  the  lifeless  form  prescribed 
190 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

by  another,  to  which  he  conforms  by  stress,  is 
a  violent  interference  with  his  inestimable 
privilege  of  coming  directly,  personally,  sin 
cerely,  into  religious  relationship  with  his 
Maker. 

Liberty  of  Action.  In  speaking  of  freedom 
of  thought,  of  speech,  of  the  press,  of  con 
science,  of  worship,  I  have  necessarily  confined 
myself  to  man's  inner  self.  Soul  liberty,  how 
ever,  is  incomplete  if  it  is  not  supplemented  by 
civil  liberty.  Man  should  not  only  be  free  to 
think,  but  free  to  act  ;  his  "pursuit  of  happi 
ness"  is  necessarily  conditioned  by  his  tastes, 
and  he  himself  must  be  his  own  judge  of  what 
will  best  contribute  to  that  happiness.  Some 
men  find  it  in  exploring  wildernesses,  in  search 
ing  for  the  North  Pole,  in  traversing  unknown 
seas,  in  sounding  the  depths  of  the  ocean,  in 
studying  the  habits  of  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
forest ;  some  men  find  it  in  mercantile  pur 
suits,  in  the  accumulation  of  wealth  ;  some  in 
the  development  of  great  industries,  or  the 
building  of  railroads  ;  some  in  philosophic  pur 
suits,  others  in  missionary  enterprises.  It  is 
evident  that  the  happiness  of  the  individual  and 
of  the  race  is  conditioned  upon  freedom  in  its 
pursuit.  Pursuit  of  happiness  is  happiness. 
191 


The  Negro  in  America 

Of  course  men  are  to  be  restrained  in  their 
liberty  of  action  when  such  liberty  leads  them 
unwisely  or  unjustly  to  do  that  which  interferes 
with  the  happiness  or  prosperity  of  their  neigh 
bors  or  is  clearly  inconsistent  with  the  general 
welfare.  Government  has  a  right  to  interpose 
to  prevent  individuals  from  doing  those  things 
which  are  hurtful  to  the  community,  and,  un 
doubtedly,  in  rare  instances,  it  has  a  right  to 
interpose  in  behalf  of  the  individual  himself,  to 
restrain  him  from  doing  that  which  will  be  man 
ifestly  to  his  own  detriment — this,  however, 
only  on  the  supposition  that  he  is  incompetent 
to  govern  himself.  The  welfare  of  the  indi 
vidual,  as  well  as  of  society,  requires  the  free 
dom  of  the  individual  in  his  own  line  of  activity, 
and  it  is  better  for  society  and  better  for  the  in 
dividual,  even  if  in  the  exercise  of  his  freedom 
of  choice  he  prefers  a  line  of  conduct  that  may 
bring  him  disaster  and  disappointment  instead 
of  success.  The  government  has  a  right  to  es 
tablish  asylums  for  the  confinement  of  the  in 
sane  and  prisons  for  the  punishment  of  the 
vicious ;  and  it  may  lay  its  restraining  hand 
upon  the  individual  to  prevent  him  from  fol 
lowing  a  line  of  conduct  which  in  its  example 
is  clearly  harmful  to  the  young  and  thus  detri- 
192 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

mental  to  the  public  weal.  Nevertheless,  the 
great,  general  truth  remains  that  the  individual 
should  be  free  to  select  his  own  vocation,  to 
follow  his  own  chosen  line  of  pursuit,  to  transact 
business  in  his  own  way,  to  be  in  all  essential 
particulars  a  free  man. 

In  a  republic  based  upon  the  popular  will 
and  recognizing  the  equality  of  the  subject  and 

the  freedom  of  the  individ- 

i    J.L    u  11  j.  •   j.i  1-1    Freedom  of  the 

ual,  the  ballot  is  the  symbol  R  ll  t 

of  liberty.  To  vote  is  a 
high  privilege  and  an  unquestionable  duty.  It 
is  the  right  of  a  ruler  to  rule,  and  any  inter 
ference  with  his  right  is  a  just  cause  for  war. 
It  is  the  duty  of  a  ruler  to  exercise  authority, 
to  execute  the  functions  of  his  office,  and  failure 
to  do  this  is  justly  condemnable.  The  voter 
in  the  United  States  is  a  ruler ;  he  expresses 
his  authority  in  the  ballot ;  it  is  his  right  to  ex 
press  it  without  restraint ;  any  attempt  to  lay 
restrictions  upon  the  freedom  of  his  vote  is  to 
deprive  him  of  his  authority.  In  a  republic 
resting  upon  popular  suffrage  an  attempt  to  in 
terfere  with  the  free  exercise  of  the  suffrage  is 
a  blow  at  the  very  foundation  of  the  republic 
itself.  To  substitute  force  for  freedom  at  the 
ballot-box  is  revolution.  To  interpose  undue 

N  193 


The  Negro  in  America 

authority  so  as  to  control  against  their  will  the 
action  of  voters,  is  anarchy.  It  is  a  crime 
against  the  republic,  and  threatens  the  exist 
ence  of  government.  Freedom  of  the  ballot  is 
the  very  essence  of  republicanism.  Inasmuch 
as  it  is  the  symbol  of  authority,  its  use  should 
be  hedged  about  with  proper  safeguards.  The 
law  should  protect  the  voter  from  constraint  in 
the  casting  of  his  ballot  ;  should  punish  bribery 
or  intimidation ;  should  restrict  suffrage  to 
those  who  have  been  long  enough  in  the 
country  to  become  Americanized  ;  should  re 
quire  some  educational  qualification  ;  and 
should  disfranchise  confirmed  criminals. 

The  function  of  the  State  is  the  preservation 
of  social  order — the  protection  of  the  individ 
ual  in  his  rights  of  personal 
A  Free  State 

property  and  reputation.    It 

has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  determining 
his  religious  duties  further  than  to  afford  him 
protection  in  the  exercise  of  his  religious 
privileges.  The  State  should,  therefore,  be 
free  to  perform  its  functions  without  ecclesias 
tical  let  or  hindrance.  Grounded,  as  it  is,  in 
the  constitution  of  human  nature,  it  is  as 
clearly  divine  as  the  church  itself.  Indeed,  in 
one  sense  it  may  be  said  that  it  antedates  the 
194 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

church,  as  a  prior  expression  of  the  divine  will. 
Its  functions  are  sacred.  The  high  office  that 
it  fulfills  is  the  promotion  of  the  well-being  of 
the  race.  In  its  relation  to  its  subjects  it  must 
be  impartial.  This  cannot  be  if  it  lends  itself 
to  any  sect  or  branch  of  the  Christian  church 
and  attempts  to  use  its  vast  power  as  an  agency 
for  the  propagation  of  any  form  of  religious  be 
lief.  As  soon  as  it  enters  on  work  of  this  kind 
it  not  only  departs  from  its  legitimate  sphere  of 
action,  but  it  loses  its  essential  character  as  a 
civil  institution  ;  it  abdicates  its  own  freedom, 
and  by  subordinating  itself  to  the  church,  be 
comes  the  servant  of  the  church.  It  is  no 
longer  free,  it  is  bound  ;  it  is  no  longer  impar 
tial,  it  is  partisan  ;  it  is  no  longer  a  judge,  it  is 
an  advocate  ;  it  no  longer  sustains  to  the  whole 
of  its  people  the  relation  of  friend  and  pro 
tector,  but  it  becomes,  to  a  portion  of  them, 
at  least,  a  possible  enemy.  Its  acts  of  legisla 
tion  and  administration  cease  to  be  free,  deter 
mined  only  by  considerations  of  the  common 
welfare,  and  become  narrow,  bound,  restricted, 
misdirected,  harmful.  A  free  State  is  a  State 
untrammeled  by  ecclesiastical  chains,  unham 
pered  by  religious  functions,  unhindered  by 
sectarian  considerations. 
195 


The  Negro  in  America 

I  recognize  the  supreme  importance  that  at 
taches  to  genuine  religion.      Christianity,  while 

it  concerns  the    individual 
A  Free  Church 

in  his  relation  to  his  Maker, 

has  at  the  same  time  a  profound  influence  in 
determining  his  relations  to  the  government 
under  which  he  lives  and  to  the  fellow-citizens 
among  whom  he  resides.  An  irreligious  man 
may  be  a  patriot,  but  he  cannot  be  in  the  high 
est  sense  of  the  word  a  good  citizen.  The  ob 
ligations  of  men  to  deal  justly  and  to  respect 
the  rights  of  their  fellow-men,  are  moral  obliga 
tions,  resting  ultimately  upon  religion,  and  are 
determined  in  their  practical  working  largely  by 
religious  convictions.  It  is  hardly  conceivable 
that  a  republic  such  as  ours  could  long  con 
tinue  to  exist  even,  much  less  to  perform  its 
high  functions  as  the  conservator  of  popular 
liberty  and  the  promoter  of  public  weal,  if  it 
were  thoroughly  irreligious.  "  Only  the  school 
bell  and  the  church  bell  can  prolong  the  echoes 
of  the  liberty  bell. ' '  The  restraining  force  of 
reverence  for  God,  and  the  fear  of  judgment, 
the  sacredness  of  the  oath,  the  enormity  of 
perjury,  the  necessity  of  truthfulness,  the  bind 
ing  nature  of  obligations  and  contracts,  the  in 
violability  of  justice,  the  potency  of  love  for 
196 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

our  neighbors,  and  the  strength  of  the  Golden 
Rule  as  a  practical  guide  in  the  affairs  of  men, 
are  as  enduring  as  truth  itself.  These  all  find 
their  highest  sanction  in  the  Christian  religion. 

The  Christian  church,  while  primarily  de 
signed  for  the  development  of  the  moral  and 
religious  nature  and  for  the  rectifying  and  puri 
fying  of  the  relations  between  man  and  his 
Maker,  and  while  serving  as  an  agency  and 
means  for  promoting  the  true  worship  of  Al 
mighty  God,  has,  nevertheless,  vital  relation 
to  the  welfare  and  the  perpetuity  of  the  Re 
public.  It  can  accomplish  its  work  as  an  aid 
to  the  State  far  more  effectively  when  left  free 
from  any  interference,  so  that  it  may  embody 
in  its  life  the  great  principles  of  its  founder. 

The  State  should  let  the  church  alone.  It 
need  hardly  be  said  that  the  church,  being  a 
religious  institution,  having  to  do  with  religious 
doctrines  and  religious  practices,  and  being 
confined  chiefly  to  the  relations  between  its 
members  and  their  God,  cannot  accomplish  its 
work  and  fulfill  its  mission  in  any  other  way 
than  by  freedom.  The  moment  an  external 
power  attempts  to  influence  it  in  its  doctrines, 
its  life,  its  polity,  it  becomes  dwarfed  and 
warped.  For  a  political  body,  such  as  a  State, 
197 


The  Negro  in  America 

composed  necessarily  of  large  masses  of  men 
who  are  not  in  sympathy  with  the  church,  who 
have  no  proper  understanding  of  its  functions, 
no  intelligent  knowledge  of  its  doctrines,  no 
appreciation  of  its  life,  to  undertake  to  control 
the  church,  to  legislate  for  it,  to  direct  its  ac 
tivities,  and  influence  its  life,  is  irrational.  It 
is  setting  men  to  the  performance  of  duties  for 
which  they  are  totally  unqualified.  It  is  like 
children  playing  with  edged  tools.  The  history 
of  the  Christian  church  is  conclusive  in  favor  of 
the  idea  of  a  church  wholly  free  from  civil  con 
trol  and  from  political  alliances. 

The    idea    of    the    complete    separation    of 
Church  and  State   has  been  one  of  the  great 

forces  that  have  worked  in 
Roger  Williams 

our  history  to  the  advantage 

of  both  the  State  and  the  Church.  His  advo 
cacy  of  this  great  truth,  and  the  practical  em 
bodiment  of  it  in  the  State  which  he  founded, 
has  given  to  Roger  Williams  a  place  among  the 
world's  great  thinkers,  benefactors,  and  legisla 
tors.  Although  our  progress  toward  the  full 
realization  of  this  idea  has  been  slow  and  tedi 
ous,  the  popular  mind  is  at  length  becoming 
thoroughly  imbued  with  its  soundness. 

I  come  now  to  speak  of  that  prime  condition 
198 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

of  liberty,  free  education.  If  the  sketch  which 
I  have  here  set  forth  of  the  fundamental  con 
ceptions  that  enter  into  the 

,  ..  Free  Schools 

ideal  of  the  republic  com 
monly  held  is  a  correct  one,  it  at  once  be 
comes  apparent  why  there  should  be  a  strong 
insistence  upon  the  necessity  of  free  popular 
education.  In  a  government  by  the  people 
each  individual  voter  has  entrusted  to  him  the 
final  arbitrament  of  all  national  questions,  the 
destiny  of  the  republic.  Upon  his  individual 
vote  may  hinge  the  constitution  of  legislatures, 
the  character  of  legislation,  the  policy  of  the 
State,  the  organization  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  and  possibly  the  fiscal  and  eco 
nomical  policy  of  the  entire  government.  It 
is  safe  to  say  that  never  before  in  the  history  of 
the  world  has  so  much  been  left  to  the  decision 
of  the  common  people  ;  never  have  such  mo 
mentous  issues  rested  upon  the  ballot  of  the  in 
dividual  voter.  The  safety  of  the  State  and  all 
that  is  involved  in  it  hangs  suspended  upon  the 
vote  of  the  merest  tyro  that  presents  himself  for 
the  first  time  at  the  polls.  The  self-preserva 
tion  of  the  State,  therefore,  requires  that  pro 
vision  shall  be  made  for  the  proper  education 
of  those  into  whose  hands  such  great  issues  are 
199 


The  Negro  in  America 

to  be  placed.  Its  only  safety  is  in  popular 
education,  and  by  no  other  means  yet  devised, 
except  public  schools,  has  the  education  of  the 
masses  of  the  people  been  attempted  or  possi 
ble.  The  free  school  is  indispensable  to  the 
free  State. 

If  it  be  true  that  the  citizen  of  the  United 
States  is  to  be  a  free  man  ;  free  in  his  own  con 
science,  his  own  thought,  in  his  expression,  in 
his  action,  independent  of  all  extraneous  and 
impertinent  authorities  ;  free  to  investigate  for 
himself,  to  form  his  own  conclusions,  and  to 
act  upon  his  convictions,  it  follows  that  there 
must  be  provided  for  him  some  system  of  train 
ing  that  shall  call  into  fullest  exercise  all  those 
powers  of  mind  which  are  essential  to  this  free 
dom.  Such  a  system  has  been  provided  in  the 
public  schools,  where  the  course  of  study  is  de 
signed  to  make  the  pupils  acquainted  with  the 
rudiments  of  an  education,  to  put  them  into 
possession  of  their  powers  of  mind,  accustom 
them  to  sound  thinking  and  to  independent 
utterance,  while  at  the  same  time  so  developing 
moral  conceptions  and  awakening  active  con 
sciences  as  to  prepare  them  for  the  career  of 
freedom  that  opens  before  them.  The  free 
school  is  the  buttress  of  our  liberties,  the  bul- 
200 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

wark  against  the  waves  of  ignorance  and  vice 
that  surge  continually  against  the  State.  It  is 
the  nursery  of  manhood  and  womanhood  ;  the 
training-place  of  citizenship ;  the  home  of  in 
dependence.  Out  of  it  springs  excellence  of 
character  and  preparation  for  civic  duty.  To 
destroy  the  free  school  is  to  strike  a  deadly 
blow  at  the  very  roots  of  the  tree  of  liberty. 
No  system  of  private  or  parochial  schools  can 
compare  with  the  public  schools  as  an  agency 
of  universal  education. 

This,    then,  is  my  conception   of  the  ideal 

republic.      It   contains    nothing  new,   nothing 

,          revolutionary,  but  is  simply 

Resume  a  restatement  of  what  is  in 

the  minds  of  thousands  of  earnest  thinkers  and 
zealous  patriots  of  the  present  day.  It  is  the 
goal  toward  which  human  history  for  centuries 
past  seems  to  have  been  slowly  tending.  It 
has  been  more  or  less  completely  grasped  by 
the  great  thinkers  of  the  past,  and  has  con 
sciously  or  unconsciously  swayed  the  minds 
and  activities  of  multitudes  of  those  who  have 
thought  and  fought  and  wrought  for  its  attain 
ment  since  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Ply 
mouth.  The  sublime  ideal  of  a  free  Church 
within  a  free  State  ;  of  a  republic  of  free  men  ; 
201 


The  Negro  in  America 

of  a  government  having  for  its  sole  function  the 
promotion  of  the  welfare  of  its  subjects ;  of  a 
community  of  intelligent  free  men  dwelling  in 
peace  together,  untrammeled  by  needless  re 
strictions,  each  man  free  to  follow  his  own  in 
clinations,  work  out  his  own  destiny,  achieve 
his  own  success ;  at  the  same  time  the  individ 
uals  uniting  to  promote  the  public  weal,  to  se 
cure  general  prosperity,  and  to  enable,  if  pos 
sible,  all  classes  to  share  equally  in  the  benefi 
cent  results  of  a  higher,  purer  civilization  than 
any  yet  known  in  human  history,  has  been  one 
of  the  great  factors  that  has  made  us  what 
we  are  to-day,  one  of  the  strongest,  richest, 
wisest,  and  most  progressive  of  nations.  It 
has  kindled  the  eloquence  of  our  orators, 
guided  the  pens  of  our  authors,  stimulated  the 
researches  and  labors  of  our  statesmen,  illumi 
nated  the  pages  of  our  poets,  aroused  the  en 
thusiasm  of  our  generals,  given  courage  and 
heroism  to  our  patriot  armies.  It  has  nerved 
the  arms  of  the  sturdy  toilers  in  our  fields, 
shops,  and  mines  ;  kindled  the  ambition  of  the 
youth  in  our  schools ;  and  has  thrown  a  halo 
of  beauty  around  our  homes.  It  has  been  the 
beacon  light  burning  upon  our  shores,  seen  by 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  alluring  to  our  land 
202 


The  Ideal  American  Republic 

as  to  an  asylum  the  vast  millions  who  have  fled 
from  the  despotism  of  the  old  world  to  the  free 
dom  of  the  new. 

The  flag  of  the  Republic  is  to-day  a  symbol 
of  liberty  the  world  over.  It  represents  the 
priceless  toil  and  struggle  of  the  past,  the  un 
exampled  power  and  splendor  of  to-day ;  and 
it  stands  for  the  achievements  and  glories  more 
resplendent  in  the  future.  We  of  to-day  are 
charged  with  the  sublime  duty  and  entrusted 
with  the  lofty  privilege  of  defending  this  ideal, 
of  guarding  our  country  from  encroachments 
from  any  source  whatever  that  would  seek  to 
take  from  it  any  one  of  the  elements  of  its 
glory  and  its  strength.  The  Republic  which 
we  have  received  from  our  fathers,  rich  in  the 
legacy  of  heroic  history ;  the  Republic  under 
which  we  live,  whose  freedom  makes  life  sweet 
and  rich;  the  Republic  of  the  future,  modified 
and  changed  only  in  as  far  as  may  be  necessary 
to  embody  in  fact  more  absolutely  the  essential 
elements  that  enter  into  its  constitution  ;  the 
ideal  American  Republic  is  ours  to  establish, 
cherish,  love,  protect,  and  hand  down  to  the 
generations  yet  to  be.  Esto  Perpetua. 


203 


14  DAY  USE 

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